In the three cities selected, BL sites tended to concentrate at low traffic speed and low traffic volume locations, while WCL sites tended to concentrate at high traffic volume locations. Overall, the matrices of final sites indicate a reasonable mix of variation. Besides the items mentioned above, a variety of other descriptive data items were collected at each site. The initial plan was to videotape bicyclists both at midblock and intersection locations. However, it became apparent that sample sizes would be relatively small if the videotaping task was divided in this fashion.
Intersections account for about half of all bicycle-motor vehicle crashes.
Because of the need to make turning movements, intersections were expected to lead to more conflicts between vehicles, pedestrians, and other bicycles. It was of interest to learn about the maneuvers bicyclists make to travel through intersections, such as the ways left turns are made. Bicyclists were videotaped in the oncoming direction as they approached the selected intersections. The location was such that the oncoming bicyclists generally were not aware of the camera until close to the intersection. The stepladder was quite beneficial in providing a viewing angle above traffic.