Abstract

The road risk perception varies between socio-economic and family environment, educational level and mobility experience. A good knowledge of the risk perception according to each social environment is essential for a better adapted and a better targeted prevention. One of the approaches used to understand this risk perception is the willingness to pay method. Moreover, much of the literature focused on estimating WTP for a reduction in the risk of fatal accident and on the calculation of the value or price of the risk, collectively named "the value of a statistical life”. In contrast, the present paper is interested in the valuation of more or less serious non-fatal injuries caused by traffic accidents. To do so, contingent valuation was conducted on the adult population (aged 18 years and older) of a French administrative Département (Rhône) during the year 2013. A telephone survey was conducted in 2013 with a sample of 2,216 inhabitants, randomly selected from the Rhône population. This study was based on the stated preference method. Respondents were asked their WTP to avoid diverse consequences of a road accident."br" Participants should consider contributing financially to the implementation of a local project to improve the safety of road users in the Rhône Département. To test the relationship between WTP and injury severity, three road safety projects were independently presented. Each was characterized by the types of injury against which it offered protection. For each project, respondents were asked whether they were willing to pay for the project to be implemented, if so, the maximum amount of money they were willing to pay each year. If not, zero WTP was assigned, and follow-up questions tried to identify the reasons for this choice; this allowed “genuine zero values”, consistent with an economic decision, to be distinguished from protest responses. A Tobit and a type-II Tobit model were estimated to identify factors for WTP. The results highlighted the significant and positive influence of injury severity on WTP. Experience of road traffic accidents seemed to play an important role, positively influencing valuation of non-fatal injury. The young people seemed to be more willing to invest in improving their road safety. As predicted by economic theory, the study confirms the positive relationship between WTP and income level. In this survey, we have taken into account all the determinants that affect willingness to pay, according to the literature: categories of road users, age groups and gender, family and social environments, (urban, peri-urban, rural), reasons for travel (professional or personal), experience of road traffic injury, etc. This suggests that these results can be transposed to any French or even European context.