Cycling rules ok? An investigation of the information and the knowledge of the changes in traffic regulations for cyclists

Traffic regulations for cyclists were changed 1. May 1998. The Ministry of Transport and Communication wanted clearer and more consistent traffic rules for cyclists. The Norwegian Public Roads Administration informed of the change by way of an information campaign called "Sykkel i veien" (Cyclist ahead). The campaign was mainly directed towards young cyclists. In order to investigate whether the campaign succeeded, approximately 500 road users and 5000 school pupils were asked about the campaign and about traffic regulations. The results show that few have heard of the campaign and few know about the change of regulations. Among school pupils there is a general lack of knowledge of what the rules are. Adult road users have more or less the same opinion to what the rules are, as they had before the change. The campaign was not sufficiently planned, mainly due to lack of time for preparations. In addition, the fact that the rules were not much clearer after the change, made it difficult to give satisfactory information.