Section IX. Appendices

I. Coding Instructions and Form for Bicycle Helmet Use Observational Study - Duval County, Florida

We want to thank you for agreeing to assist with the Florida Bicycle Helmet Use Survey.

Your help on this health and child-safety project is invaluable and without it we would not be able to gather the necessary data on helmet use.

Please review these instructions and feel free to call us at the telephone numbers listed below if you have questions about coding helmet use or if you encounter some sort of difficulty. Our job is to do whatever it takes to make your work go smoothly.

This set of instructions is organized as follows:

• “Quick Start”: just the basics you need to know to get started.
  
  
• In-depth set of instructions: the how's and why's of what you and we are doing.

We encourage you to read over this section.

 

Quick Start Instructions

1 - Coder forms: Begin each observation session – each session when you are at a
particular location to observe and code (write down) bike-helmet data – with a Page 1 sheet. After you use all of the lines on the Page 1 sheet, continue on the Continuation Sheet , using as many of these sheets as you need. Please number and staple all the sheets together at the end of each observation session.

2 - Each observation session requires a new set of coding sheets – One set of coding sheets per observation session.

3 - Elementary and middle schools: Observe either in the morning (20-30 minutes
before classes begin) or the afternoon (from the time classes end until the students have left the schoolgrounds). Do Not observe at the same school twice – One observation, morning or afternoon, per school.

Also, typically there is one residential road that most student-bicyclists will use when riding to and from school each day. Perhaps the school's main entrance is on this road. Whenever possible, please make your observations as these young bicyclists are riding on this road or its associated bike lane (if it has one), or on a sidewalk near it. Do not go onto schoolgrounds to make your observations. We are most interested in the cyclists' riding behaviors outside of the schoolyard.

4 - For bike trails, parks and beaches go on days and at times when there is more likely to be a sizable number of bicyclists. Weekends may be the best times. You can return to these spots up to four times if you can – but please, vary the time of day and the day of the week that you return (e.g., Saturday morning one time, Sunday afternoon the next).

5 - Try not to count the same bicyclists twice. The best way to avoid this is to count cyclists going in the same direction, and do your counting from a fixed location.

6 - On the coding sheet, you either write down the first letter of the choices you are given or you place a check mark.

7 - Here are some coding definitions that may not be particularly clear from the
coding sheets:

• County Code and Observation Code. We will provide you with these.
  
  
• Sunny means hardly a cloud in the sky. Partly Cloudy means there are Clouds floating about, but not so many as to blot out the sun. Cloudy means you are not likely to see the sun anytime soon.
  
  
• Calm means there is hardly any wind, although there could be a light breeze. Windy is, well, windy – strong and steady winds and gusts.
  
  
• Helmet Properly Worn means it is fairly level on the bicyclist's head and the straps are fastened. Generally speaking, if the helmet is being worn properly, you should be able to see only about a two-finger-width space of the cyclist's forehead. Since you will be trying to make this determination at a glance, then we really are most interested in gross examples of improper use – instances of improper use that are obvious at a glance.
  
  
• For the Age Range, a Young Child is younger than six years old; an Adolescent is 6-12 years old; a Teen-ager is 13-18 years old; a Young Adult is 19-30 years old, and an Older Adult is 31 or more years old.
  You will be estimating these ages by your best judgment.
  
  
• For Bike Lane Present , this applies only to standard, residential streets, and perhaps will come into play primarily for the elementary and middle school observations. A bike trail, for example, will not have a bike lane. If you are observing bicyclists on a particular road, and if that road has a clearly marked bike lane, then please check this box. By bike lane we mean any portion of the side of a road that is clearly and specifically marked by signs and/or roadway stripes as a bike lane.
  
  
• Please us the Comments section to record any information you believe will be important for us to know about a particular bicyclist which is not covered by any of the entries on the coding form. In particular , we would like you to use this section to note whether a bicyclist has a passenger , how that passenger is riding on the bike (on the handlebars or in a child seat, for example), and whether that passenger is wearing a bike helmet.

Florida Bicycle Helmet Use Observational Survey
CODING INSTRUCTIONS
(REVISED 4-3-02)

We want to thank you for agreeing to assist with the Florida Bicycle Helmet Use Survey. Your help on this health and child-safety project is invaluable and without it we would not be able to gather the necessary data on helmet use.

Please review these instructions and feel free to call us at the telephone numbers listed below if you have questions about coding helmet use or if you encounter any difficulty with this survey. Our job is to help make your work go smoothly.

This set of instructions is organized as follows:

• “Quick Start”: The basics you need to know to get started.
  
  
• In-depth set of instructions: The hows and whys of what you and we are doing. We encourage you to read over this section.

Quick Start Instructions

1. Elementary and middle schools: Observe either in the morning (20-30 minutes before classes begin) or in the afternoon (from the time classes end until the students have left school grounds). DO NOT observe at the same school twice – one observation, morning or afternoon, per school.
   
   Also, typically, there is one residential road that most student bicyclists will use when riding to and from school each day. The school's main entrance may be on this road. Whenever possible, please make your observations when these young bicyclists are riding on this road or its associated bike lane (if it has one), or on a sidewalk near it. Do not go onto school grounds to make your observations . We are more interested in the cyclists' riding behaviors outside the schoolyard.
   
   
2. For bike trails, parks and beaches - go on days and at times when there is more likely to be a sizable number of bicyclists. Weekends may be the best time for observations. You can return to these spots up to four times – but vary the time of day and the day of the week that you return (e.g. Saturday morning one time, Sunday afternoon the next).
   
   
3. Try not to count the same bicyclist twice. The best way to avoid this is to count cyclists going in the same direction, and do your counting from a fixed location.
   
   
4. On the coding sheet, blacken in your choices with a permanent black sharpie marker.
   
   
5. Here are some coding definitions that may not be particularly clear from the coding sheets:

• County Code and Observation Code . We will provide you with these.
  
  
• Weather Conditions:
  • Sunny means hardly a cloud in the sky.
  • Partly Cloudy means there are clouds in the sky, but not so many as to blot out the sun.
  • Cloudy means you are not likely to see the sun anytime soon.
  • Calm means there is hardly any wind, although there could be a light breeze.
  • Windy means there are strong and steady winds and gusts.
    
    
• Helmet Worn Properly. The helmet is fairly level on the bicyclist's head and the straps are fastened. Generally speaking, if the helmet is being worn properly, you should be able to see only about a two-finger-width space of the cyclist's forehead. Since you will be trying to make this determination at a glance, we really are most interested in gross examples of improper use – instances of improper use that are obvious at a glance.
  
  
• Bike Lane Present. This applies only to standard, residential streets, and will most likely come into play primarily in the elementary and middle school observations. A bike trail, for example, will not have a bike lane. If you are observing bicyclists on a particular road, and if that road has a clearly marked bike lane, then please check this box. By bike lane we mean any portion of the side of the road that is clearly and specifically marked by signs and/or roadway stripes as a bike lane.

 

Florida Bicycle Helmet Use Survey:
Detailed Instructions
General Information

• When you see the term “observation session” it refers to that period of time when you are at a particular location, observing bicyclists and coding (writing down) data about their helmet use.
  

• It would be great if you could record information for every bicyclist that passes your view. But sometimes there will be so many, you will end up missing one here and there. Suppose this happens: You have just started coding information for a cyclist when another one catches your eye. What should you do? Answer: It is best to ignore the second cyclist and concentrate instead on making a full and accurate entry for the first cyclist.

Note: With practice, you will be able to code more cyclists.

• The timeline for this survey is:
  Training volunteer coders – From April until the beginning of May.
  Conducting observations – From May 1 through the end of June, with special attention to completing observations at elementary and middle schools before the end of May.

How To Use The Bike-Helmet Observation Coding Sheets (Instructions are for ALL coding sheets)

1. County Code. This is the number that we have assigned to your county. We will tell you what it is.
   
   
2. Observation Site Code. This will be a number that is unique to each site in your county that has been selected for observation, in consultation with the local representative. We will work with the representative to assign these numbers.
   
   
3. Observer's Name. This is your name – please print it.
   
   
4. Date. This is the Month/Day/Year (04/19/02 for example) that you worked a particular observation site.
   
   
5. Start Time, End Time. These are the times you began and finished a particular observation session. Write down the time.
   
   
6. Weather Conditions When Observation Began. We are interested in what it was like outside at the time you made a particular set of bike-helmet use observations. For this part, just bubble in the appropriate choice. Was it sunny, partly cloudy or cloudy at the time? Was it a calm day with little to no wind or was it a windy day? Here is what we mean by those terms:

Sunny There is hardly a cloud in the sky and the sun is shining brightly. Scattered clouds – the occasional wispy cloud floating by - disregard them.

Partly There are a lot of clouds in the sky, but not so many as to completely blot out the sun.

Cloudy The sun still peeks through, sometimes briefly and sometimes for longer periods.

Cloudy The clouds completely blot out the sun, for example, when it is about to rain.

Calm There is little to no wind blowing. Light breezes count as being calm.

Windy Can include anything from a fairly steady and strong breeze to an obviously strong and gusty wind.

7. Estimated Temperature. How hot or cool do you estimate it to be outside at the time you begin an observation session? A weather station on the radio, a bank sign with the temperature in lights – these could help you here.
   
   
8. Bike Lane Present. If you are observing bicyclists riding on or near a standard, residential street, and if that street has a clearly designated and marked bike lane, then please bubble in the appropriate circle for this item. By “clearly designated and marked” we mean that roadway signs and/or strips indicate that one or the other shoulder of the road is reserved for bicyclists' use.
   
   
9. Wearing Helmet. This is the most important issue. If the person is wearing a bicycle helmet, please bubble Y in this space. If not, bubble N in this space. Carrying a helmet does not count here. It must be worn on the cyclist's head.
   
   
10. Helmet Properly Worn. If the person wearing the helmet is wearing it properly, please bubble in Y for this space. If not, then bubble in N for no and A for non-applicable.

Note: What we are looking for here are gross, or really obvious, examples of improper bike-helmet use. Any finer distinction than that is not possible, since you will be trying to determine proper helmet use at a glance.

By wearing the helmet properly, we mean:

• The bike helmet appears at a glance to be sitting fairly level on the person's head and the cyclist has fastened the chin-straps .
  
  
• Approximately a two-finger-width space of the cyclist's forehead appears at a glance to be showing beneath the helmet.

A cyclist is NOT wearing the helmet properly , if:

• The helmet is obviously tilted back on the cyclist's head as to appear to expose a large amount of the forehead (more than a two-finger-width space), or the helmet is so obviously titled to either the left or right side.
• The helmet's chinstraps are not fastened (dangling free), or they are obviously loosely fastened.

Note: The diagram on the last page of these instructions fully explains what we mean. Please refer to it.

11. Female, Male . Bubble in M for boys and adult males, and F for girls and adult females. However, if the bicyclist is a child (or an elderly bicyclist) and you cannot determine the gender, then bubble in U in this space.
    
    
12. White, Black, Hispanic, Other. This is a standard demographic question that will help us determine whether special attention needs to be paid to increasing helmet use for any particular racial group. As best as you can determine it, bubble in the first letter of the cyclist's race in this space.

This next set of questions applies only to standard, residential roads. For example, it would apply to school children you might be observing, but not to cyclists riding on a designed and recognized bike trail or on the beach. (The following instructions are for ALL coding sheets, but only where they apply).

13. On Road. Is the cyclist riding on a road, like a residential street near a school that might be your assigned observation site? If so, bubble in Y for this section. If not, then bubble in N for NO.
    
    
14. Bike Lane. Is the cyclist riding in a designated bike lane to one side or the other of the road? If so, bubble in Y for YES for this section. If not, then bubble in N for NO.
    
    
15. Sidewalk- Is the cyclist riding on the sidewalk? If so, bubble in Y for this section. If not, then bubble in N for NO.
    
    
16. Against Traffic. Is the cyclist riding “against” vehicular traffic? If so, bubble in Y for this section. If not, then bubble in N. For example, say there is a road that runs north and south, and you observe a cyclist who is riding south in the northbound lane. As that rider is going against traffic, you would bubble in Y for that observation.
    
    
17. Comments. Please use this section to make a quick note of anything you observed about a particular bicyclist that you think we should know, and which is not covered in any of the coding-form entries. In particular, we would like you to use this section to note whether a bicyclist is carrying a passenger, how that passenger is riding on the bike (i.e. on the handlebars or in a child seat), and if that passenger is wearing a bike helmet.

For Observing At Elementary and Middle Schools

• Observe only once at any one particular school. Please do not return in the afternoon to the same school you worked in the morning, and vice versa. What we need for you to do is to visit one school in the morning and then visit a school in the afternoon. And please schedule the schools for observation only during the weekdays. Remember, they are not in session on weekends.
  
  
  Note: Keep in mind that most schools end their year by early June. Therefore, please do your school observations in May.
  

• A morning observation should be accomplished 20-30 minutes before classes begin. An afternoon observation should begin from the time classes end for the day to the time the students have left the school grounds.
  

• You should make your observations from a fixed location. Please select an observation location that is both off the school's grounds and which will afford you the best view of the main residential road or roads that schoolchildren use to ride their bikes to and from school. Such roads may be the ones that run in front of a school's main entrance. We are interested mostly in students' bike-riding behaviors outside the schoolyard , as they ride to school in the morning and ride home in the afternoon. Please, do not go onto the school's grounds to make your observation.

For Observing At Bicycle Paths Or Trails, Parks Or At The Beach

• Observe at a bicycle path or trail, a park or a beach primarily during the weekends , but some weekday observations are acceptable. The times you go depend on your schedule and your judgment as to when the most cyclists will be at any one of these locations. The goal is to record information on as many cyclists as you can during any one-observation session. To do that, it is best to pick those times when you believe a lot of cyclists will be on a bike trail.
  

• One concern here is coding the same bicyclist twice. To avoid this, or at least to make it less troublesome, pick a direction-left to right, for example, and code information only for cyclists who are going in that direction .
  

• Another way to avoid coding the same bicyclist twice is to do your observations from a fixed location. Pick a spot that in your judgment will offer the best unobstructed view of most, if not all, of the cyclists and then do all your coding from there. For example, on a bike trail, you might stand near the trail's entrance – a place where bicyclists must pass to use the trail.

For Observing At Community Colleges And/Or Universities

• Observe at community colleges or universities either in the mornings , say from 8-10 am, or around noontime , say from 11am – 1 pm. Typically, it is in the mornings when the largest numbers of students arrive for classes, and it is around lunchtime that a sizable number of them leave campus.
  

• Observe bicyclists going in one direction only . For example, in the mornings, code only those cyclists you see arriving at campus; around the noon hour, code only those cyclists you see leaving campus.
  
  
• Observe bicyclists from a fixed location . For example, one of the main entrances to the campus might be good, as would any other entrance that, in your best judgment, will afford you the largest number of cyclists for your observation time.

What To Do With Your Completed Coding Sheets

We ask that you return all of the coding sheets you have completed to the local representative twice each month in May and June. The local representative will mail your sheets, along with those completed by other volunteer coders in your county, to the FSU Department of Communication in the prepaid envelopes we provided.

Diagram of Proper Bike-Helmet Use

Just for the record, a bicycle helmet is just that – a helmet. It is not a baseball cap or any other kind of hat. A bicycle helmet can be described as protective headgear for a bicyclist that have a hard outer shell and a cushioned inner shell, and contains chinstraps for fastening the helmet to the head.

In trying to determine if the cyclist is wearing his or her helmet properly, ask yourself:

• At a glance, does the helmet appear to be fairly level on the bicyclist's head ?

• At a glance, are the chin- straps fastened ?

At a glance, does it appear that about a two-finger-width space of the helmeted cyclist's forehead is obviously visible beneath the helmet?

 

Supplemental Coding Instructions
For Duval County Public School Observations

These instructions pertain only to observations being made at Duval County elementary and middle school. Also, these are supplemental coding instructions. They do not replace any previous instructions.

How To Code The Supplemental Duval County Variables

•  Scan. Student bicyclists should be scanning, or glancing over their shoulders with some frequency as they ride. Ideally, they should be looking over their left shoulder, but as a practical matter, we are interested only in whether they are “scanning” – glancing over either their left or right shoulder – to monitor the traffic situation behind them.

If, in your best judgment, a bicyclist-student reasonably exhibits this “scanning” behavior, then bubble in Y for YES for this item.

1. Used Signals . Student bicyclists should be using standard hand signals to indicate their intention to make a left or right turn. For example, if student-bicyclists enter a school's grounds by turning off of a roadway or sidewalk, then they should first hand-signal their intention to make that turn. Similarly, as they leave the school's grounds, they also should hand-signal before making a turn out of a school and onto a roadway or sidewalk. They should also use hand signals before they make a turn through an intersection that may be near the school.

1. Bright, Visible Clothing. Student bicyclists should be wearing brightly colored, highly visible clothing, or clothes that by their coloring makes the cyclists easily visible to motorists and other cyclists. Student bicyclists could be wearing a brightly colored safety vest instead. This is called, “seeing and been seen.”

Ideally, what they should not be wearing are clothes that blend in with the background environment, such as earth-tone colored clothes, or clothes that otherwise make the cyclists hard to distinguish from the surrounding trees, houses, building, etc.

If, in your best judgment, a student bicyclist is wearing brightly colored clothing or because of some other factor, makes them readily visible to motorist and other cyclists, then bubble in Y for YES for this item.

Bike Coding Instruction Updates

We have gone with a new form. Instead of writing all the information down, we will just bubble in the responses.

Date: MM/DD/YY

Start and End Time: You must write it out with AM/PM.

Age Range: We have updated the age ranges. Here is the list of new ages:

• Child = <5
• Elementary = 5-10
• Middle School = 11-13
• High School = 14-17
• Young Adult = 18-30
• Older Adult = 30+

Please note that we have eliminated the comment's sections.