GOALS: The goal was to gain a picture of current driver behaviour, and of the links between committed violations and accident history. It was also to identify how driver behaviour has changed over the last 20 years. METHODS: A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study of a sample of 1161 drivers about the frequency of violations and the perception of the dangers and penalties associated with them was used in 2005. Self-reported violations and mental representations were also compared to the results of Biecheler who used similar methods (Biecheler-Fretel, 1983). RESULTS, CONCLUSIONS: Road traffic violations are frequent in France, particularly among male drivers. Several violations are linked with history of accidents in our sample. Frequently or fairly frequently exceeding the speed limit by 10 km/h (a violation reported by almost 53% of our sample), increases accident occurrence by a factor of 1.4. Progress in drivers' behaviour has been slow and nonuniform, and appears in part to be related to safety campaigns that have been run (seat belts, alcohol). The results could inform future campaigns. In particular, a campaign on the use of indicators would seem worthwhile. Copyright 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
GOALS: The goal was to gain a picture of current driver behaviour, and of the links between committed violations and accident history. It was also to identify how driver behaviour has changed over the last 20 years. METHODS: A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study of a sample of 1161 drivers about the frequency of violations and the perception of the dangers and penalties associated with them was used in 2005. Self-reported violations and mental representations were also compared to the results of Biecheler who used similar methods (Biecheler-Fretel, 1983). RESULTS, CONCLUSIONS: Road traffic violations are frequent in France, particularly among male drivers. Several violations are linked with history of accidents in our sample. Frequently or fairly frequently exceeding the speed limit by 10 km/h (a violation reported by almost 53% of our sample), increases accident occurrence by a factor of 1.4. Progress in drivers' behaviour has been slow and nonuniform, and appears in part to be related to safety campaigns that have been run (seat belts, alcohol). The results could inform future campaigns. In particular, a campaign on the use of indicators would seem worthwhile. Copyright 2010. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Authors: Eladio Jiménez-Mejías; Pablo Lardelli-Claret; José Juan Jiménez-Moleón; Carmen Amezcua-Prieto; José Pulido Manzanero; Juan de Dios Luna-del-Castillo Journal: Inj Prev Date: 2012-11-05 Impact factor: 2.399