Differences and similarities between European drivers in opinions about traffic measures : a cross-national study of the results of the SARTRE-survey.

This paper describes a cross-national study into the results of the Social Attitudes to Road Traffic Risk in Europe (SARTRE) survey. In 1991-1992, this survey was conducted among more than 17,000 drivers in 15 European countries. The survey was carried out as the result of a joint effort of 15 research institutes, led by the French Institut National de Recherche sur les Transports et leur Sécurité (INRETS). An important aim of the SARTRE survey is to assist European policymakers in their decision-making about traffic legislation, measures and campaigns. The report focuses on the following research questions: (1) What are the main national differences with regard to opinions, attitudes and behaviours concerning traffic; (2) how can the dimensions be described or interpreted along which European car drivers differ; and (3) which groupings of European countries are similar or dissimilar on a particular dimension? Canonical correlation analyses were performed on subsets of the survey questions. The aim was to answer the three research questions for two specific topics. These topics are: (i) opinions about traffic measures in general; and (ii) opinions and behaviours concerning speed and speeding. On the basis of the analyses, a network of partly diverging, partly converging nationalities has been identified