Cécile Coquelet

Red light violations by adult pedestrians and other safety-related behaviors at signalized crosswalks

To study human factors linked to red light violations, and more generally to safety-related behaviors at signalized crosswalks, the present study combines the collection of observational data with questionnaires answered by 422 French adult pedestrians. Thirteen behavioral indicators were extracted (12 before and while crossing, and red light violation), and the roles of several demographical, contextual and mobility-associated variables were examined. The results of the stepwise logistic regression analyses carried out on each of the 12 behavioral indicators observed before and while crossing revealed that gender had no major impact, but age did, with more cautious behaviors as pedestrians were older. The three contextual variables (group size, parked vehicles, and traffic density), as four mobility-associated variables (driving and walking experiences, self-reported crossing difficulties and falls in the street) were also found to be important factors in safety-related crossing behaviors. A wider logistic regression analysis, made specifically on red light violations with all behavioral indicators observed before and while crossings and the several demographical, contextual and mobility-associated variables put together, showed that red light violations were mostly affected by current situational factors (group size, parked vehicles) and particularly associated with some behavioral patterns (looking toward the traffic, the ground, the light, running and crossing diagonally). The overall results encourage the development of safer pedestrian infrastructures and engineering countermeasures.

Conformity to gender stereotypes, motives for riding and aberrant behaviors of French motorcycle riders

Abstract As sex differences are very pronounced in motorcycle crashes, both in terms of number and severity, the present study aims to determine the relationship between gender, motives for riding a motorcycle, and risk-taking behaviors among motorcyclists. Declared aberrant behaviors, conformity to gender stereotypes and motives to ride a motorcycle were investigated among 2262 riders of heavy motorcycles, through an Internet survey. Ages ranged from 18 to 78 years, 10.5% of the respondents were women. Results revealed the new scale on motives for riding a motorcycle was effective and allowed to show that competition motives were associated to masculinity, low femininity and youth. They also showed that maleness, masculinity, youth, and competition motives were predictors of violations and femaleness and low masculinity were predictors of lapses. Furthermore, competition motives were also mediators between masculinity and aberrant behaviors, except for personal protective equipment negligence. This study gives new knowledge on the relationship between conformity to gender stereotypes, motivations, and the behaviors of riders of heavy motorcycles. Results can be useful for adapting prevention campaigns to the small sub-groups that are the more at risk in the motorcyclists’ population.

Pedestrian adolescents: mobility and safety at secondary school in France

Background The road crash peak among children is around 11–12 years-old in France, as in many industrialised countries, at the time of entry in secondary school. The reasons why this vulnerability increases while the skills involved should have improved are not clear. By linking two fields of analysis of road safety (fine spatial analysis of crashes and depth analysis of behaviours and psychosocial factors), our project aimed to finely identify the mobility and pedestrian accident involvement of the 10–15 years old and specify geographical, psychological and sociological determinants of both variables. Methods and results A study of accident processes among pedestrians aged 10–15 years over France for the period 2002–2011 was conducted, based on the national accident file and on a sample of accident police reports. It was completed in the field of study of the Lille region (France) by the spatial analysis of local accident data (including the identification of accident scenarios) and the mobility of 10–15 years, using data from the 2006 household travel survey. Two field surveys were then conducted. A first survey among 2500 junior high school students has identified the fine mobility practices and their socio-spatial determinants. It also explored the demographic and psychological variables (age, gender roles, perceptions of social norms, risks, rules, level of supervision) explaining the reported pedestrian risky behaviours. A second survey among 300 junior high school students focused on their perceptions of known and unknown walking environments. It enabled to draw up a sensible mapping of their actual walking environment and a qualitative analysis of the elements using to judge the pleasantness and safety and characterise their representations of positive or negative actual and virtual travels as pedestrian. Conclusions The results allow a better understanding of the phenomena and processes involved in the accident of pedestrian adolescents and to identify measures needed to overcome this problem.