Poor observation by drivers causes nearly half of all collisions between cyclists and vehicles whilst our travel survey’s continually highlight that the fear of traffic is the biggest barrier to cycling. Whilst we await the creation of segregated cycle paths to really drive cycling numbers up then, we need to look at other ways to encourage people to feel safe on the roads through training, access to maintenance and improving the visibility of cyclists.
The Close Pass Indicator Internship undertaken by Jasmine Watts in 2025 aimed to test the effect of fitting these devices on cyclist and driver behaviour.
You can view the Executive Summary and Full report below
Or full report
Summary: A research project was undertaken to examine whether a close pass indicator might influence cyclists’ perceptions of safety and driver behaviour. This study was regarded positively, participants viewing any exploration into improvements of cyclist’s safety as a matter worth exploring.
Cyclists engaged in a baseline survey (n=90) and a follow-up survey (n=29). Between the surveys participants were able to get their bikes fitted with a CPI and the subsequent survey assessed whether it affected their perceptions of road safety and driver behaviour. A total of 43 close pass indicators were fitted to bikes across St Andrews. Additionally, 8 interviews were conducted with cyclists allowing them to further expand upon their thoughts of CPIs. An additional drivers survey was conducted (N=38) to examine whether a CPI might influence drivers’ behaviour. The self-reported findings of cyclists are positive. CPIs are suggested to encourage cycling and giving participants more confidence on the roads, especially at night. Participants reported that from a CPI, they felt drivers were more aware (69.9% felt drivers were more aware of them when using a CPI) of them on the roads in addition to drivers giving increased lateral distance when overtaking (50% perceived an increase in overtaking distance when using a CPI). However, participants (34.7%) suggested that the addition of a CPI made them more aware of potential dangers of cars, and may have decreased their cycling confidence. When examining the inferential statistics on whether CPIs had a significant difference upon safety perceptions and driver behaviour, very few significant results were found. Taken together, CPIs might be beneficial on an individual level. Large scale schemes involving CPIs are unlikely to significantly impact cyclist perceptions of safety and driver behaviour across an entire community.
