Risk Taking and Risk Perception in Road Safety: Comparative Study of Young Sportsmen and Nonsportsmen in Southeastern France

The relationship between participation in sporting activity and both risk taking and risk perception when traveling on a two-wheeled vehicle were evaluated among 614 adolescents between the ages of 14 and 17 years. The sex of the respondents (252 girls, 362 boys) and their experience with road accidents were taken into account. Three-way analyses of variance indicated a significant main effect for sex, with girls reporting both fewer risky behaviors and higher risk perception than boys when traveling on a two-wheeled vehicle. Effect for sporting activity was also significant, with sports practitioners reporting lower risk taking and higher risk perception than nonsportsmen. There was also a significant interaction between sex and sporting activity. For boys, risk taking was higher and risk perception lower among the nonsportsmen than among the sports practitioners. Experience with road accidents had no significant relationship with risk taking or risk perception when traveling on a two-wheeled vehicle.

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