4.1 Driver Training

Overall Effectiveness Concerns: This countermeasure has not been systematically examined. There are insufficient evaluation data available to conclude that the countermeasure is effective.

The purpose of addressing bicycle safety as part of driver education is to increase the sensitivity of drivers to the presence and characteristics of bicyclists and how to safely share the road with them. Although driver education and most State driver manuals address sharing the road with bicyclists, many devote little attention or emphasis to the topic. NCHRP released model driver handbook material that may be adapted by States to enhance their driver handbook information on sharing the road with bicyclists (Thomas et al., 2007). This material could also be used in driver education courses. Other existing print and electronic publications from organizations such as AAA could and are being used to increase the emphasis on safe driving around bicyclists. NHTSA has developed a series of videos to reach audiences that are either not literate in their native language or do not speak the English language to educate drivers about sharing the road with cyclists, including a motion graphic called Driving Safely Around Pedestrians and Bicyclists (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Herby4kNVOg). Several States distribute Share the Road information. For example, the Utah Department of Health developed a 12-minute video to be shown in driver education classes to reinforce how drivers can safely share the road with bicyclists.

One standard approach would be to implement a Share the Road module, www.trafficsafety­marketing.­gov/get-materials/motorcycle-safety/share-road (see Section 4.2), covering interactions with bicyclists in driver education curriculums. For complete coverage, the same messages would need to be included in State-provided material for new drivers and covered by new questions added to the license knowledge exam. Standards for driver education curriculum and training developed by the American Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association mentions sharing the road with cyclists and pedestrians as a learning objective (Driver Education Working Group, 2009).

For links to more resources and discussion of considerations in educating motorists about bicycle safety, see the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center, www.pedbikeinfo.org/topics/­drivertraining.cfm.

Use: As noted, all driver licensing handbooks have some coverage of driving safely with bicycles on the road, but the information may not be very complete and there may be little assessment or testing of the material. Information is unavailable on the extent of training material being used. States including New Mexico, Louisiana, and Washington have expanded sections on bicycle safety in their driver’s education handbooks and curriculum (for New Mexico’s handbook see page 25 of https://driving-tests.org/new-mexico/nm-mvd-drivers-handbook-manual/).

Effectiveness: Driver education has not been shown to reduce overall crash rates. The objective for adding more bicycle information would be to increase knowledge and desire to share the road safely with bicyclists, of the most common crash types and hazards and to improve new drivers’ anticipation of and interactions with bicyclists – as well as improve their behavior as bicyclists. Lifelong traffic safety education that includes bicycle training might also provide motorists with a greater understanding of bicyclist characteristics and needs and how to safely share the road. Computer-based training programs, such as the Risk Awareness and Perception Training (RAPT) and SAFE-T, can be used to train bicyclist anticipation and hazard mitigation skills to young drivers (Pollatsek et al., 2006; Pradhan et al., 2009; Yamani et al., 2016; Yamani et al., 2014). These programs present potential conflict situations to drivers in safe driving simulator settings (e.g., bicyclist passing situation, passing a bicycle with no lights in low light) and help in training and evaluating safe driving skills. For more details on these programs, see the Young Drivers chapter, and Appendix 6, Section 2.1.

Costs: Free material like that above is available from NCHRP as well as the Transportation Research Board, American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, and the League of American Bicyclists. The cost would be for the adaptation or development of the new segments of the standard curriculum and for getting it into the material used by driver education instructors and schools. Changes to State driver manuals and other publications could be done in the normal material update budget.

Time to implement: Material would need to be adapted and integrated into the standard driver education curriculum, and adjustments made elsewhere in the curriculum to reflect likely additional time required for the new bicycle material.

The same timeframe would be expected for making changes to official State driving manuals, license exams, and related material and procedures.