Last week psychological scientists from around the U.S. gathered in Washington, D.C. to discuss innovative behavioral research that will be used to save thousands of lives. Over 200 million Americans drive a car on any given day, and each year around 30,000 Americans lose their lives in car crashes. The More
The Guardian: Perhaps safety helmets should carry a health warning. Wearing them, it appears, encourages dangerous risk-taking. In an extraordinary study, Dr Tim Gamble and Dr Ian Walker, from the University of Bath’s department of psychology, have shown that wearing a helmet is likely to increase sensation-seeking and make people More
Daily Mail: Cycle helmets are promoted as a way of reducing injury if someone is knocked off their bike, but new research suggests they may be increasing the risk of accidents in the first place. Psychologists have discovered that people wearing cycle helmets tend to take more risks than they More
CBC: On last week’s program, we had a conversation about a proposal to license cyclists in Vancouver. That unleashed a torrent of feedback – more than we’ve ever had on a single item, and much of it hostile to cyclists. This week, we asked psychologist Ian Walker why drivers get More
A recent bill in the state of Wyoming would require all bicyclists to wear no less than 200 square inches “of high-visibility fluorescent orange, green or pink color clothing visible from the front and rear of the bicycle.” Though lawmakers in favor the bill argued that the new wardrobe requirements More
Convincing people to switch from driving their car to taking the bus to work isn’t easy. But when the environmental charity group WWF announced that it would be moving its United Kingdom headquarters to another town, psychological scientists Ian Walker, Gregory O. Thomas, and Bas Verplanken of the University of More
