The importance of individual characteristics on bicycle performance during alcohol intoxication
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55329/vmgb9648Keywords:
alcohol intoxication, bicycling stability, cognitive performance, group characteristics, self-rated bicycling abilitiesAbstract
Bicycling accidents are a well-known problem for traffic safety globally. Alcohol intoxication is one possible factor, although the exact number of accidents due to intoxication is difficult to establish. Not all bicyclists act in the same way, particularly when under the influence of alcohol, i.e., bicycling performance might be related to a bicyclist's personal characteristics. This study aimed to investigate if the bicyclist's characteristics (bicycling experience, physical fitness, or sensation seeking scores) influence bicycling stability, cognitive performance, or self-rated bicycling ability ratings at different levels of alcohol intoxication. The experiment was completed on a wide treadmill, which allowed control of several influencing factors such as speed and physical effort. Intoxicated and sober participants bicycled on the treadmill five times for 10 minutes each time, and breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) levels were measured five times. Participants were given doses of alcohol up to a BrAC level of 0.8%. The results revealed that alcohol intoxication had a significant effect on stability, cognitive executive functions, and self-rated ability to bicycle on the treadmill. Group characteristics had an effect on bicycling performance and on self-ratings of bicycling ability when intoxicated. Alcohol intoxication affects stability, cognitive performance, and perceived ability to bicycle. Group characteristics are important for examining possible self-regulated behavior, as some groups rate that they can bicycle safely, even when there is an objective decrease in stability and executive functions.
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Author Biographies
Caroline Andersérs, Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute, Sweden
Caroline Andersérs has a degree of Master of Science with a major in Cognitive science. She works at department at the Swedish Transport Agency, Borlänge. Her major research interest is in traffic safety and risk taking behavior.
CRediT contribution: Formal analysis, Investigation, Project administration, Resources, Writing—original draft.
Jan Andersson, Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute, Sweden
Jan Andersson is a professor at the research department Traffic and Road users, VTI, Linköping. His research area is traffic safety, accessibility, and mobility from a user-centered perspective. The ongoing research projects on bicycling deal with understanding of how alcohol intoxication affects bicycling ability, use of modern technology (e.g. Hövding helmets) to increase knowledge on why bicycle accidents occur and development of future functions for increased traffic safety and mobility with the help of electrification and digitization.
CRediT contribution: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Writing—original draft.
Henriette Wallén Warner, Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute, Sweden
Henriette Wallén Warner is a Senior Researcher at the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI) and an Associate Professor at Uppsala University. Her main area of research is road user behaviour with a special interest for vulnerable road users and road safety. She has published numerous peer-reviewed articles, delivered conference presentations in a dozen countries and on a regular basis been involved in peer-reviewing for scientific journals and international conferences.
CRediT contribution: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Writing—review & editing.
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Copyright (c) 2024 Caroline Andersérs, Jan Andersson, Henriette Wallén Warner
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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Trafikverket
Grant numbers TRV 2018/71179
