Safety and User Experiences

We study how crashes happen and how transport environments shape people's experience of safety, comfort and stress. Our program develops new methods of measurement and surveillance, from linkage of trauma registry and police data, to on-bike technologies that detect near-miss events as people ride, to wearable sensors and immersive virtual reality that capture how environments are physiologically and emotionally felt. Together, these capabilities address critical safety data gaps and place lived experience at the heart of safer transport design.

Relevant publications View

Lim, T., Pearson, L., Thompson, J., Odgers, J. C., & Beck, B. (2025). Establishing normative scores of affect, safety, and comfort for bicycling infrastructure and traffic conditions. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 114, 337-353. doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2025.06.006
Gerhard, R., Gabbe, B. J., Cameron, P., Newstead, S., Morrison, C. N., Clarke, N., & Beck, B. (2025). A scoping review on the methods used to assess health-related quality of life and disability burden in evaluations of road safety interventions. Journal of Safety Research, 92, 459-472. doi.org/10.1016/j.jsr.2024.11.028
Li, M., Beck, B., Rathnayake, T., Meng, L., Chen, Z., Cosgun, A., ... & Kulić, D. (2025). A benchmark for cycling close pass detection from video streams. Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, 174, 105112. doi.org/10.1016/j.trc.2025.105112
Lim, T., Thompson, J., Pearson, L., Odgers, J., & Beck, B. (2024). Effects of within-trip subjective experiences on travel satisfaction and travel mode choice: A conceptual framework. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 104, 201–216. doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2024.05.024
Lim, T., Thompson, J., Tian, L., & Beck, B. (2023). A transactional model of stress and coping applied to cyclist subjective experiences. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 96, 155–170. doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2023.05.013
Kalra, A., Lim, T., Pearson, L., & Beck, B. (2023). Methods used to capture subjective user experiences in adults while riding bicycles: A scoping review. Transport Reviews, 43(3), 453–477. doi.org/10.1080/01441647.2022.2123064
Tracy, L., Gabbe, B., & Beck, B. (2023). Friction burns in cyclists: An under-recognised problem. Injury, 54(4), 1119–1124. 10.1016/j.injury.2023.02.029
Lim, T., Kalra, A., Thompson, J., Odgers, J., & Beck, B. (2022). Physiological measures of bicyclists’ subjective experiences: A scoping review. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 90, 365–381. doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2022.09.007
Beck, B., Perkins, M., Olivier, J., Chong, D., & Johnson, M. (2021). Subjective experiences of bicyclists being passed by motor vehicles: The relationship to motor vehicle passing distance. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 155, 106102. 10.1016/j.aap.2021.106102
Perkins, M., Casalaz, S., Mitra, B., Gabbe, B., Brown, J., Oxley, J., Cameron, P., & Beck, B. (2021). Identify the key characteristics of pedestrian collisions through in-depth interviews: A pilot study. International Journal of Injury Control and Safety Promotion, 28(2), 135–140. 10.1080/17457300.2021.1876736
Devlin, A., Beck, B., Simpson, P., Ekegren, C., Giummarra, M., Edwards, E., Cameron, P., Liew, S., Oppy, A., Richardson, M., & others. (2019). The road to recovery for vulnerable road users hospitalised for orthopaedic injury following an on-road crash. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 132, 105279. 10.1016/j.aap.2019.105279
Beck, B., Chong, D., Olivier, J., Perkins, M., Tsay, A., Rushford, A., Li, L., Cameron, P., Fry, R., & Johnson, M. (2019). How much space do drivers provide when passing cyclists? Understanding the impact of motor vehicle and infrastructure characteristics on passing distance. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 128, 253–260. 10.1016/j.aap.2019.03.007
Beck, B., Stevenson, M., Cameron, P., Oxley, J., Newstead, S., Olivier, J., Boufous, S., & Gabbe, B. J. (2019). Crash characteristics of on-road single-bicycle crashes: An under-recognised problem. Injury Prevention, 25(5), 448–452. 10.1136/injuryprev-2018-043014
Morrison, C. N., Thompson, J., Kondo, M. C., & Beck, B. (2019). On-road bicycle lane types, roadway characteristics, and risks for bicycle crashes. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 123, 123–131. 10.1016/j.aap.2018.11.017
Beck, B., Cameron, P., Fitzgerald, M., Judson, R., Teague, W., Lyons, R., & Gabbe, B. (2017). Road safety: Serious injuries remain a major unsolved problem. Medical Journal of Australia, 207(6), 244–249. 10.5694/mja17.00015
Beck, B., Ekegren, C., Cameron, P., Edwards, E., Bucknill, A., Judson, R., Page, R., Hau, R., Stevenson, M., & Gabbe, B. (2017). Predictors of recovery in cyclists hospitalised for orthopaedic trauma following an on-road crash. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 106, 341–347. 10.1016/j.aap.2017.06.019
Beck, B., Stevenson, M., Newstead, S., Cameron, P., Judson, R., Edwards, E., Bucknill, A., Johnson, M., & Gabbe, B. (2016). Bicycling crash characteristics: An in-depth crash investigation study. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 96, 219–227. 10.1016/j.aap.2016.08.012

Projects

ACCESS

2024–2027

Speed policy comparisons across Victoria, Australia and British Columbia, Canada

Ongoing

Development of on-bike technology to capture objective and subjective measures of cyclist safety

2021–2023

Evaluating interventions to prevent serious road traffic crashes