An Analysis of Florida Physical Educators' Knowledge of Bicycle Laws

• Published in: The Physical educator Vol. 69; no. 4; pp. 413 - 435
• Main Authors: Connaughton, Daniel P, Egberts, John B, Spengler, J. O, Zhang, James J, Jin, Liyan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Urbana Sagamore Publishing LLC 22-12-2012; Sagamore Publishing
• Subjects: Bicycling; Cycling; Elementary School Teachers; Fatalities; Florida; Knowledge Level; Laws, regulations and rules; Pedagogical Content Knowledge; Pedestrians; Physical Activities; Physical Education; Physical Education Teachers; Practice; Predictor Variables; Risk; Safety; Safety Education; Sampling; State laws; State Legislation; Study and teaching; Teacher Surveys; Traffic accidents & safety; Traffic Safety; Workshops; Florida; United States; United States > US
• ISSN: 0031-8981; 2160-1682

Bicycling among youth is a popular activity, but like all modes of travel it is not without risk. Florida has a particularly high rate of bicycle-related fatalities and injuries. To reduce such risks, the Florida Department of Transportation and Florida Department of Education have developed a youth bicycle safety educational program (Florida Traffic and Bicycle Safety Education Program [FTBSEP]) and mandated pedestrian/bicycle safety be taught in school (K-5) physical education classes. The FTBSEP provides bicycle safety curricula and workshops for Florida's physical education teachers. The primary purpose of this study was to examine Florida physical educators' knowledge of state bicycle laws. After a comprehensive review of literature and a test of content validity by a panel of experts, a survey was developed with 17 items that measured knowledge of Florida bicycle laws. Items were phrased as true or false statements, with an optional answer of unsure. Additionally, demographic and bicycle background variables were included in the survey. After obtaining Institutional Review Board approval, current physical educators (N = 142) were recruited via convenience sampling from (a) 10 FTBSEP bicycle safety teacher-training workshops delivered during the 2009-2010 academic year and (b) a bicycle safety exhibition booth at the 2009 Florida Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Dance, and Sport conference. Approximately 77% of the respondents were elementary teachers. Although 53% of the respondents had never taught bicycle safety, over 77% of them intended to teach it. Of the 17 items measuring bicycle law knowledge, 12 had a mean score greater than 1.0 (i.e., unsure), and one sample t test confirmed that the positive differences, when compared to the neutral effect (i.e., 1.0), were statistically significant (p less than 0.05), suggesting that respondents were more likely to answer them correctly. While the results suggest an overall positive level of bicycle law knowledge, specific areas were identified where knowledge was lacking and should be addressed in the FTBSEP teacher-training workshops and curricula. Additional research investigating bicycle safety educators' perceptions, attitudes, and knowledge is warranted. (Contains 7 tables.)