October 23, 2012
HOPKINTON, MA – Researchers Paul Schepers, M.Sc., M.A. and Berry P.L.M. den Brinker, Ph.D. of the Netherlands won the 2012 International Ergonomics Association (IEA) Liberty Mutual Medal. The researchers received the honor for their scientific paper, “What do cyclists need to see to avoid single-bicycle crashes?” (Ergonomics, Vol. 54, No. 4, pp. 315-327, April 2011). Schepers is a road safety consultant with the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, Centre for Transport and Navigation (Delft) and den Brinker is a researcher and director of the Scientific Institute for Low Vision Use Research and Vrije Universiteit, Faculty of Human Movement Sciences (Amsterdam). The Medal is being presented at the 50th anniversary meeting of the Nederlandse Vereniging voor Ergonomie, a federated society of the International Ergonomics Association. The meeting will be held in Amersfoort, The Netherlands on October 25-26, 2012.
The most prestigious award of its kind in the field of occupational ergonomics and safety, the IEA/Liberty Mutual Medal is awarded to the author of an original scientific paper that meets criteria for innovation and impact. Presented annually, the award recognizes outstanding original research leading to the reduction of work-related injuries and/or to the advancement of theory, understanding, and development of occupational safety research. An international review committee, established by the IEA, selects the winning contribution from among the applicants worldwide. The Medal carries a stipend of $10,000.
The winning paper discusses a scientific study that aims to improve cycling safety, by examining the role of visual characteristics of the cycling facilities, such as pavement markings and the visibility of bollards on bicycle paths. “This study demonstrates how ergonomics can simultaneously improve system effectiveness and human well-being,” says Andrew S. Imada, Ph.D., IEA past president and awards committee chair. “It considers task demands, environmental dimensions, human characteristics, and capabilities to improve bicycle systems. The study also effectively demonstrates how solid ergonomics research can have a positive impact on safety.”
Single-bicycle crashes comprise nearly three quarters of all cyclist traffic incidents and one-third of all traffic incident victims in the Netherlands (Ormel, et al., 2008 from the Dutch Consumer Safety Institute). “The problem of single-bicycle crashes is large and the issue needed serious scientific attention,” says Schepers, the winning author. “We are pleased that our study recommendations regarding edge-off track markings were included in the 2011 ‘Guideline on Cyclist Safety produced by Fietsberaad, the Dutch Centre of expertise on bicycle policy.”
The investigation had two phases. First, the researchers obtained information from 734 bicycle crash victims treated at accident and emergency departments. The accident victims completed a questionnaire comprising both open-ended and closed questions about the crash and circumstances. With these data, the researchers applied a logistical model to study the relationship between the crashes and age, light condition, alcohol use, gaze direction, and familiarity with the crash scene. The results showed that crashes occur more often with cyclists with worsened vision and visual circumstances, including older cyclists and cyclists who drank alcohol prior to the crash.
The second study phase helped the researchers to establish a relationship with the characteristics of the visual design. Specifically, researchers looked at visibility in the visual periphery. To evaluate the visibility of critical information in the visual periphery, researchers applied the Image Degrading and Edge Detection method (IDED-method). The IDED-method blurs the image to simulate lowered visual acuity in the visual periphery (Image Degrading) and then marks all contrast differences above a minimal level of contrast (Edge Detection). The researchers applied this method to investigate the visual characteristics of 21 crash scenes that researchers could photograph under the same viewing, weather, and light conditions. Schepers explains the importance of visibility in the visual periphery, “If a cyclist approaches a row of bollards that protects a cycle track from cars, the cyclist has to detect the danger and subsequently has to steer through the gap between the bollards without fixating on them. Both detection and safe steering are guaranteed by the visibility of the bollards in the visual periphery. The IDED-method helped us to measure this and confirmed that the critical information was poorly visible at crash scenes.”
The combined results of the study indicate that crashes, in which the cyclist hit a bollard, collided due to a road narrowing, or veered off the road, were related to the visual characteristics of the bicycling infrastructure. The findings support recommendations for improving the visibility of cycling environments with edge markings, especially in curves of bicycle tracks and improving the conspicuity of bollards as key interventions to help reduce crashes."
“We are proud to receive this important award in the ergonomics and safety field,” says Schepers. “The Medal recognizes research in our field, and we hope that the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety and the IEA will continue this initiative in the future. We hope that our study will stimulate more research on single-bicycle crashes and that road authorities will realize the importance of a good visual design to help prevent single-bicycle crashes.”
About Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety
Owned and operated by Liberty Mutual Insurance, the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety has helped to improve the occupational safety and health of millions of workers for more than 50 years. Through laboratory and field-based investigations, the Research Institute seeks to advance scientific, business-relevant knowledge in workplace and highway safety and work disability. Research findings are shared with the worldwide health and safety community, and are ultimately used to develop recommendations, guidelines, and interventions that help reduce risk and control costs.
About Liberty Mutual Insurance
"Helping people live safer, more secure lives" since 1912, Boston-based Liberty Mutual Insurance is a diversified global insurer and the third largest property and casualty insurer in the U.S. based on 2011 direct premiums written as reported by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
Liberty Mutual Insurance also ranks 84th on the Fortune 100 list of largest corporations in the U.S. based on 2011 revenue. As of December 31, 2011, Liberty Mutual Insurance had $117.1 billion in consolidated assets, $99.3 billion in consolidated liabilities, and $34.7 billion in annual consolidated revenue.
Liberty Mutual Insurance offers a wide range of insurance products and services, including personal automobile, homeowners, workers compensation, property, commercial automobile, general liability, global specialty, group disability, reinsurance and surety. Liberty Mutual Insurance employs over 45,000 people in more than 900 offices throughout the world.
About International Ergonomics Association
The International Ergonomics Association (IEA) is the federation of ergonomics and human factors societies from around the world. The mission of the IEA is to elaborate and advance ergonomics science and practice, and to improve the quality of life by expanding its scope of application and contribution to society. For more information on the IEA, please visit www.iea.cc .
Dr. Andy Imada
Chair, IEA Awards Committee
Past IEA President
Phone: +1-916-486-1635
Email: PastPres@iea.cc
Prof. Eric Wang
IEA President
Phone: +886-918-550067
Email: President@iea.cc
