The objective of this study was to develop and validate a self-reporting scale to measure injury risk behaviors among pedestrians of all ages. The Pedestrian Behavior Scale (PBS) was developed that included 47 items enabling respondents to evaluate the frequency with which they had different types of pedestrian behaviors. The validation study was carried out on 343 participants (126 men and 217 women) between the ages of 15 and 78. Factor analyses were used to differentiate between 4 axes. Factor 1, "transgression", included items concerning offence of legal rules and errors. Factor 2 included "lapses" items. Factor 3 comprised "aggressive behavior" items and factor 4 included "positive behavior" items. A revised version of the PBS with 20 items was produced by selecting those items that loaded most strongly on the four factors. The 20-item version had good internal reliability. The effects of demographic and mobility variables on the PBS scores were investigated. This instrument will be useful in measuring the frequency of these different types of behaviors among the pedestrians who are most at risk, analyzing the psychological factors used to predict PBS scores and thus better adapt preventive actions to the different populations of vulnerable road users of all ages.

Male pedestrians are over-represented in road crashes. Among pedestrians, males violate more rules than females do. For now, it is not known whether gender differences in pedestrian behaviors only concern rule compliance. The objective of this study was to explore gender differences in pedestrian rule compliance and in gaze targets before and during crossing. 400 adult pedestrians were observed at two signalized and two unsignalized crossroads, using a taxonomic observation grid which detailed 13 behavioral categories before, during and after crossing. The results show that the temporal crossing compliance rate is lower among male pedestrians but spatial crossing compliance does not differ between genders. Furthermore, different gaze patterns emerge between genders before and during crossing, notably as women particularly focus on other pedestrians during these two periods whereas men focus on vehicles. Moreover, females' gazes vary with the type of crossroads, but males' gazes do not.Spatial crossing compliance and gaze targets are furthermore modulated by the crossroad configuration. These results are discussed in terms of pedestrian visual strategy and compliance.

The objective of this study is to explore the effects of sex-stereotype conformity and the internalization of traffic rules on risk-taking among adolescent pedestrians. Sex-stereotype conformity, danger perception, internalization of traffic rules and risky behaviors self-reported by 278 adolescent pedestrians (130 boys and 148 girls) aged 12 to 16 were measured. The results show an effect of sex-stereotype conformity on the internalization of traffic rules and risky behavior. Furthermore, the results show an effect of internalizing traffic rules on the risky pedestrian behaviors. Thus, it appears that, more than biological sex, it is the level of masculinity and the level of internalization of the rules that explain gender differences in risk-taking among adolescent pedestrians. Gender - sex-stereotype conformity - risk-taking - pedestrian - internalization - adolescent - Genre - prise de risque - piéton - internalisation - conformité au stéréotype sexu

The purpose of this study was to validate a new version of the Driver Behavior Questionnaire (DBQ) on a sample of French drivers in order to gain a better understanding of different driver behaviors, by differentiating two types of violations (aggressive and ordinary), three types of errors (dangerous, inattention and inexperience) and by taking positive behaviors into account. 525 drivers (205 men and 320 women), between 18 and 79 years of age, filled in a questionnaire on line including the 41 items in the new version of the DBQ and information relative to their mobility and their accident history. Exploratory factor analysis confirmed a six-factor structure: "dangerous errors", "inattention errors", "inexperience errors", "ordinary violations", "aggressive violations" and "positive behaviors". A revised version with 23 items of the new version of the DBQ was produced by selecting the items that loaded most strongly on the six factors. The results also showed the link between demographic variables (age and gender), mobility (kilometers driven weekly), the DBQ scores and the involvement in an accident in the previous five years. This study permitted to validate a more detailed version of the "Driving Behavior Questionnaire" among French drivers of all age and all level of experience.

The study examined gender differences in compliance with pedestrian rules among preschool children. Two groups of 5-year-old boys and girls containing a total of 162 children participated in the study. First, the children's compliance was assessed during crossing and walking by observing their pedestrian behaviors. Then, each child was interviewed on pedestrian-danger appraisal, rule knowledge, rule compliance, and rule internalization. As hypothesized, the results showed that girls' behaviors were more compliant than those of boys. However, boys were more compliant than girls in looking at the surrounding environment as they traveled and before crossing. Girls said they were more compliant with rules, had better knowledge of rules, and exhibited greater rule internalization than boys. Danger appraisals, however, were found to be comparable for boys and girls. Moreover, declared compliance was linked to behavioral compliance among girls but not among boys. These findings suggest that girls and boys have different motives for obeying safety rules. The results are discussed in regard to the origins of gender differences in traffic-rule compliance.