@phdthesis{Blank-Gomel2021,
title = {Traffic accidents and the risks of cycling: A sociological perspective},
author = { Rony Blank-Gomel},
url = {https://escholarship.mcgill.ca/concern/theses/vt150p658},
year = {2021},
date = {2021-04-19},
address = {Montréal},
school = {McGill University},
abstract = {Traffic accidents generate a heavy burden in deaths, bodily harm and monetary costs, and there are growing concerns regarding the unintended consequences of traffic safety policies. Yet, they are marginal in the sociological literature. Drawing on the sociology of knowledge, I explore the construction and spread of truth claims regarding traffic accidents and traffic safety, focusing on accounts of the risks of cycling and specifically the role of bicycle helmets. I use this case to contribute to several sociological debates.
I used a mixed methods approach. I constructed a dataset of 1,902 articles, published 1970-2014, and identified the main themes characterizing different periods using bibliometric and network analysis mapping tools. This was complemented by 19 in-depth interviews; close readings of influential texts; and a qualitative analysis of 665 relevant news stories, published 1970-1995.
In the first chapter I contribute to the sociology of risk by examining if Beck’s risk society thesis, criticized for neglecting mundane risks, can be used to account for historical transformations in expert discourse regarding the risks of cycling. Drawing on the mapping of academic debates, I describe the bicycle helmets’ journey from the margins to the center of accounts of the risks of cycling, and the growing challenges to their position at the core of national policies. I argue that this process corresponds to the risk society thesis, including the transformation of bicycle helmets from mechanical objects into ‘quasi objects’.
In the second chapter I contribute to the sociology of mobilities, in which the development of traffic safety measures, including bicycle helmets, is often attributed to automobility, a car-dominated mobility regime. However, only few studies analyzed how automobility exerted such an influence. Drawing on Actor-Network Theory, I examine how helmet-oriented accounts of the risks of cycling succeeded in expanding their reach in the United States. I demonstrate the constitutive role of non-humans in this process and highlight changes in how participants were represented as well as the different interpretations of the term ‘effectiveness’. I describe this expansion as a non-linear, contingent process and argue against the use of automobility as an explanatory factor.
In the third chapter I review sociological studies of traffic accidents and traffic safety, published 1940-2017. Using a systematic search I constructed a dataset of 266 articles that I examined using qualitative text analysis. The results demonstrate that sociological interest in these issues has been marginal and sporadic, but diverse. I discuss the major themes emerging from this literature, including the relations between traffic accidents and suicides, group differences in risk, human-technology relations, the public marginality of traffic accidents, and their unintended consequences. I then discuss the sociological neglect of traffic accidents and offer venues for further research.
The thesis problematizes the view of traffic accidents and traffic safety as mundane issues, explores the sociological relevance of these issues and suggest heuristic avenues for further research. Potential audiences include sociologists interested in knowledge, mobilities, risk and accidents, traffic safety experts, activists, and policymakers.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {phdthesis}
}