Thierry Brenac

Accident prototypical scenarios, a tool for road safety research and diagnostic studies

The concept of prototypical accident scenario has been used since the late 1980s in French road safety research. A prototypical scenario can be defined as a prototype of the accident process corresponding to a series of accidents which are similar in terms of the chain of facts and causal relationships found throughout the various accident stages. This concept provides a means of combining and generalising the knowledge obtained from accident case studies, based on in-depth investigation methods or on detailed analyses of police reports. Applications of this concept are developed in both the field of traffic accident research and safety studies (diagnoses) in preparation for engineering measures or local safety policies. This paper presents the prototypical scenario concept, its theoretical background, and the way it is used for safety research and studies.

Excess accident risk among residents of deprived areas

This study examines road risks among residents of deprived neighbourhoods covered by social policy compared with residents of other contiguous neighbourhoods that are socially more privileged. The data used are from accident reports filled in by the police. When these data are brought to the level of the population in the areas studied, the adjusted relative risk for those living in sensitive urban areas compared with those living in other areas is assessed at 1.366 (with a 95% confidence interval from 1.240 to 1.502). Distributions by age and gender are then studied. In the discussion, several hypotheses concerning behaviour, mobility and socio-spatial factors are discussed.

Collisions Between Pedestrians and Reversing Vehicles in Public Settings in France

Received: September 8, 2017 Revised: November 24, 2017 Accepted: January 10, 2018 Abstract: Background: Collisions between pedestrians and reversing vehicles in public settings have received little attention in France. Yet, according to the national statistics on traffic accidents, reversing vehicles are involved in 6.5% of the 11,700 pedestrian accidents recorded each year (over the 2008-2015 period). Moreover, this proportion is probably underestimated in these statistics.

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.