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Failure to respect traffic lights, stopping at pedestrian crossings or even excessive speed, risky behavior by motorists is increasing in the city. From now on, this would concern one driver in twenty, according to a study published by the insurer MMA.
Risky behaviors were thus identified among 5% of motorists observed. The main offenses noted are failure to obey the red light (59%), stopping on a pedestrian crossing (18%), excessive speed (12%), stopping on a bicycle lock (8%), using the phone or other activity (eating, looking elsewhere, etc.) while driving (8%), changing direction or suddenly overtaking without a turn signal (7%), driving on bus lanes (5%) and refusal of priority to a pedestrian already on a dedicated crossing (4%). Ultimately, 68% of these risky behaviors concern non-compliance with the highway code and 26% stopping in the wrong place. And in almost half of the cases (43%), these behaviors led to an incident such as sudden braking or a collision.
It also emerges from this study that it is mainly men who adopt risky behaviors. They thus represent 80% of motorists identified as more or less dangerous. There are also disparities between cities. Thus, it is in Paris that non-compliance with red lights was most frequent (in 68% of cases observed). For its part, Montpellier stands out with a higher proportion of motorists on the phone or doing something else (57%) while speeding reigns supreme in Rennes (29%).
As a reminder, according toNational interministerial road safety observatory (ONISR), the first victims of these behaviors are often vulnerable users. Soft modes of transport (pedestrians, cyclists, new motorized personal transport vehicles) now represent 22% of deaths and 33% of serious injuries recorded on the roads in France.
And, as if that were not enough, a majority of road users today indulge in insulting motorists and other scooter riders, often out of fear of an accident, according to another study published by Macif and the Jean Foundation -Jaurès. Two thirds of road users (67%) admit to having already uttered insults.
The observation study on the behavior of motorists in the city was carried out by OpinionWay for MMA, using a sample of 8,708 observations of motorists, at intersections, in 15 observation points located in 5 large French cities. (Paris, Lyon, Rennes, Montpellier and Metz). These observations were carried out at different times of the day: from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.