Inhabiting infrastructure: exploring the interactional spaces of urban cycling

Contemporary cities are thick with infrastructure. In recognition of this fact a great deal of recent work within urban studies and urban geography has focused on transformations in the governance and ownership of infrastructural elements within cities. Less attention has been paid to the practices through which urban infrastructures are inhabited by urban dwellers. Yet in all sorts of ways infrastructures are realised through their use and inhabitation. This paper argues for the importance of attending to the ways that infrastructures are reinterpreted through use. Focusing on a case study of commuter cyclists in London, it explores the ways in which cyclists accommodate themselves to (and are in turn accommodated by) the infrastructural orderings of London’s streets. Confronted by the obduracy of a road infrastructure designed primarily for motorised traffic, cyclists show a diverse range of approaches to negotiating movement through the city on bikes. The paper describes how this negotiation can be understood in terms of the more or less skilful processes of navigation, rule following, rule making, and rule bending. This involves a polymorphous mix of practices, some common to driving, others to walking, and yet others unique to cycling. In conclusion, the paper suggests that transformations of infrastructures found within cities need to be understood as much through emergent changes between their elements, and that close attention to how infrastructures come to be inhabited offers productive avenues for thinking about ways to improve them

Driving without wings: the effect of different digital mirror locations on the visual behaviour, performance and opinions of drivers

Drivers' awareness of the rearward road scene is critical when contemplating or executing lane-change manoeuvres, such as overtaking. Preliminary investigations have speculated on the use of rear-facing cameras to relay images to displays mounted inside the car to create ‘digital mirrors'. These may overcome many of the limitations associated with traditional ‘wing’ and rear-view mirrors, yet will inevitably effect drivers' normal visual scanning behaviour, and may force them to consider the rearward road scene from an unfamiliar perspective that is incongruent with their mental model of the outside world. We describe a study conducted within a medium-fidelity simulator aiming to explore the visual behaviour, driving performance and opinions of drivers while using internally located digital mirrors during different overtaking manoeuvres. Using a generic UK motorway scenario, thirty-eight experienced drivers conducted overtaking manoeuvres using each of five different layouts of digital mirrors with varying degrees of ‘real-world’ mapping. The results showed reductions in decision time for lane changes and eyes-off road time while using the digital mirrors, when compared with baseline traditional reflective mirrors, suggesting that digital displays may enable drivers to more rapidly pick up the salient information from the rearward road scene. Subjectively, drivers preferred configurations that most closely matched existing mirror locations, where aspects of real-world mapping were largely preserved. The research highlights important human factors issues that require further investigation prior to further development/implementation of digital mirrors within vehicles. Future work should also aim to validate findings within real-world on-road environments whilst considering the effects of digital mirrors on other important visual behaviour characteristics, such as depth perception

Driving buses and coaches The official DSA syllabus

Previous ed.: 2002. Includes indexSIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:m03/29335 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply Centre6. ed.GBUnited Kingdo

The official theory test for drivers of large vehicles

First published 1996SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:m03/15744 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply Centre6. ed..GBUnited Kingdo

Theory test companion

First published 2001. In a slip case with The Highway CodeAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:OP-ID / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLE2. ed..GBUnited Kingdo

The official theory test practice papers for motorcyclists Reflects the actual test for theory tests taken from 1 July 2003

Consists of practice papers 1-5 in a folderSIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:OP-ID / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

The Highway Code

Includes index. In a slip case with the Theory Test CompanionAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:OP-ID / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEEleventh impression New ed.itionGBUnited Kingdo

The official theory test practice papers for car drivers Reflects the actual test for theory tests taken from 1 July 2003

Consists of practice papers 1-5 in a folderSIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:OP-ID / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

The goods vehicle driving manual

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:OP-97/TRA / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

The complete theory test for cars and motorcycles Driving skills

Available from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:OP-96/TRA / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo