Assessing the Perceived Safety of Cyclists with Virtual Reality

Balali, Vahid · 2025 · ROSA P / Mineta Transportation Institute

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Summary

This research addresses the critical need to improve safety for vulnerable road users, specifically cyclists, by investigating how design and environmental factors influence their perceived safety. While motor vehicle occupant fatalities have generally decreased, cyclist fatalities have risen to historic highs. Existing research often focuses on measured safety outcomes like crash rates, leaving cyclists’ subjective perceptions of safety underexplored. Real-world studies of cyclist behavior are limited by inherent safety risks and high costs. To address this gap, the study evaluates the validity of Immersive Virtual Environments (IVE) as a safe, cost-effective alternative for assessing cyclist behaviors, physiological responses, and safety perceptions in controlled settings. The methodology employed a within-subjects pilot study comparing cyclist performance in a real-world setting against a corresponding IVE simulation. The experimental corridor was a high-risk segment of East Anaheim Road in Long Beach, California, featuring specific elements such as a 4% downhill grade, shared lane markings, and traffic signals. The IVE was developed at a 1:1 scale using Unity and Steam VR, calibrated with two weeks of real-world video data to replicate peak traffic volumes and vehicle speeds. Participants used a stationary bicycle simulator equipped with Wahoo smart trainers for realistic resistance, grade simulation, and wind feedback, alongside an HTC Vive Pro Eye headset for visual immersion and eye tracking. Data collection included biometric sensors (smartwatches for heart rate), video cameras for head movement, and post-simulation Likert-scale surveys assessing perceived safety and willingness to cycle. Preliminary findings from the pilot study involving five participants indicate that the IVE simulator successfully replicates real-world cycling conditions. The system accurately captured cyclists’ speed profiles, heart rate variations, and head/gaze behaviors, demonstrating sensitivity to environmental changes within the virtual corridor. The study highlights that the IVE framework offers significant cost savings compared to naturalistic road tests, with an initial setup cost of approximately $3,500 versus thousands to millions for real-world infrastructure modifications or expensive eye-tracking hardware. Furthermore, the virtual environment eliminates safety risks for participants and researchers associated with on-road testing during peak traffic hours. The significance of this work lies in validating VR technology as a robust tool for transportation research and infrastructure planning. By confirming that IVE simulators can reliably measure behavioral and physiological responses, the research supports the use of virtual environments to test various road designs, traffic levels, and infrastructure types without endangering users. This approach allows for the identification of design elements that enhance perceived safety, which can inform targeted policies and engineering solutions to increase cycling rates and reduce accidents. Ultimately, the study provides a scalable method for evaluating non-motorized traveler safety, bridging the gap between theoretical design and real-world application.

Key finding

Immersive Virtual Environment simulators accurately replicate cyclists' speed profiles, heart rate variations, and head/gaze behaviors compared to real-world conditions.

Methodology

simulator

Sample size: 6

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed. Discovered via bulk_ingest_rosap on 2026-05-23 (6 acquisition events logged).

Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-10; verification: verified.

Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• vru facing ehmi
• cyclist safety
• simulator validity fidelity
• vru conspicuity

Information type

What kind of knowledge this paper contributes, grouped by family — independent of topic (what it is about) and method (how it was studied).

• Applied Guidance: countermeasure evaluation
• Methodological Resource: tool software, validation psychometrics