My name is Stephen Vaughn, a Doctoral Student at the University of Illinois at Chicago and I am researching Women's Safety and Security issues with Bicycling and Walking. For this research I am conducting a focus group and would like your participation.

The location of the Focus Group is:

Mercury Cafe
1505 W Chicago Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
August 11, 2009
6pm to 8pm

The focus group should consist of 12-16 participants and a description is below:

In the non-motorized transportation field, gender differences in bicycling and pedestrians are well documented. Studies have indicated that a concern for safety is a relevant factor in explaining possible gender differences in bicycling behavior (Emond, Tang, and Handy, 2009). The concern for safety is not limited to the physical environment of the roadways, but includes the availability of bicycle facilities and the safety of the surrounding neighborhoods. Even though fatality statistics for pedestrians and bicyclists are declining, the exposure risk
for women is increasing due to them being equally as mobile as men in number of trips (2007 CMAP Household Travel Tracker Survey). This increased exposure to accident risk, may have an impact upon the number of fatal accidents among women. This potential increase in fatal accidents comes from the estimates that women, 15-45, are 25% more likely than a male, of the same age, to die from the same injury (Evans, 1991).

If this sounds like something you would be interested in, please feel free to contact me at 773-704-7162 or via email response. I look forward to hearing from you.

Thank you.

Stephen T. Vaughn