The Effect of the Bicycle Safety Device on Cyclist’s Ability to Detect Cars Behind Them
School Name
Heathwood Hall Episcopal School
Grade Level
10th Grade
Presentation Topic
Engineering
Presentation Type
Non-Mentored
Oral Presentation Award
2nd Place
Written Paper Award
4th Place
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to determine the efficiency of the Bicycle Safety Device (BSD) on how far away cyclists can detect a car behind them. The BSD is a device that can detect objects behind it, chimes when it does so, and records how far away the object was in feet (up to 23ft.). The independent variable for this study was whether or not the BSD’s chime was turned on, and the dependent variable was the value recorded by the BSD. The null hypothesis stated that the BSD would have no effect on cyclist’s car detection ability, and the hypothesis stated that a cyclist would be able to correctly detect cars behind him/her from a greater distance and more accurately. The BSD was added onto a cyclist’s bike, and the cyclist used it to determine how far away cars were behind him with and without the chime and how often he correctly predicted that there was a car behind him. After 20 days of cycling the BSD was determined to be slightly more efficient than the control, meaning that the cyclist was able to detect cars behind him from farther away. However, the difference was not large enough to be statistically significant, so the null hypothesis was supported. The cyclist was correctly able to identify cars behind him without the chime more consistently, suggesting that the BSD may yield false positives.
Recommended Citation
Tuller, DuBose, "The Effect of the Bicycle Safety Device on Cyclist’s Ability to Detect Cars Behind Them" (2018). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 118.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2018/all/118
Location
Lassiter 118
Start Date
4-14-2018 10:00 AM
Presentation Format
Oral and Written
The Effect of the Bicycle Safety Device on Cyclist’s Ability to Detect Cars Behind Them
Lassiter 118
The purpose of this study is to determine the efficiency of the Bicycle Safety Device (BSD) on how far away cyclists can detect a car behind them. The BSD is a device that can detect objects behind it, chimes when it does so, and records how far away the object was in feet (up to 23ft.). The independent variable for this study was whether or not the BSD’s chime was turned on, and the dependent variable was the value recorded by the BSD. The null hypothesis stated that the BSD would have no effect on cyclist’s car detection ability, and the hypothesis stated that a cyclist would be able to correctly detect cars behind him/her from a greater distance and more accurately. The BSD was added onto a cyclist’s bike, and the cyclist used it to determine how far away cars were behind him with and without the chime and how often he correctly predicted that there was a car behind him. After 20 days of cycling the BSD was determined to be slightly more efficient than the control, meaning that the cyclist was able to detect cars behind him from farther away. However, the difference was not large enough to be statistically significant, so the null hypothesis was supported. The cyclist was correctly able to identify cars behind him without the chime more consistently, suggesting that the BSD may yield false positives.
