The attitudes and behaviour of European pedestrians

In this paper, the attitudes and behaviour of European pedestrians were analysed based on the results obtained from SARTRE4 face-to-face interviews carried out in 19 countries. First, a descriptive analysis was carried out, and several types of widespread risky behaviour were recognized, e.g. crossing at non-designated locations and during red signal display. Men crossed streets on a red light or at wrong places more often than women, and women and the elderly avoided dangerous streets or intersections more often than men or younger pedestrians.Further analyses revealed regional patterns of different attitudes, perceptions and behaviour in Northern, Eastern and Southern Europe, and statistical analysis was used to outline profiles of pedestrians in terms of motivations and travelling style. Based on the components describing the attitudes and behaviour of the respondents, the pedestrians can be grouped allocated to three groups: positive attitude + positive behaviour, negative attitudes + negative behaviour and mixed attitudes + positive behaviour. The majority of the pedestrians (almost 70%) had positive or neutral behaviour and attitudes, but 30% were expressing negative attitudes towards measures and interventions as well as towards existing pedestrian environment and safety.