“The French do not like having to stop,” recalls the general delegate of the Prévention Routière association Anne Lavaud.
“There is a misunderstanding with the little red man”explained on Saturday April 29 on franceinfo Anne Lavaud, general delegate of the Prévention Routière association, while a yellow light for pedestrians must be tested in seven cities in France: Metz, Nancy, Nantes, Nice, Strasbourg, Toulouse and Versailles. Like the orange light for cars, it is a question of signaling to pedestrians the passage to come to the red light.
In any case, this is what a decree published in the official journal on April 21 provides, but Versailles has already told franceinfo of its desire to withdraw from the project. Perhaps because of the cost of tens of thousands of euros. But for the Road Prevention association, it has to be done because “the period when everything is red creates a zone of conflict”. A not insignificant experiment when we know that in urban areas, 40% of fatal pedestrian accidents take place on a pedestrian crossing.
franceinfo: Do you think this will change things?
Anne Lavaud: This experiment will allow us to see how, over time, we behave in relation to this traffic light for pedestrians. There is a misunderstanding with the little red man for pedestrians. When the little guy turns red, the fire [pour les voitures] remains red. Misunderstanding is also on the side of cars or two-wheelers who consider that when the man turns red this gives them the right to pass, while their light is red.
“This period when everything is red creates a zone of conflict.”
Anne Lavaud, general delegate of the Prévention Routière associationat franceinfo
This three-stroke fire system exists in other countries. Why do an experiment and not apply it directly?
In terms of prevention and road safety, experiments are often carried out beforehand. Then, we trigger the possibility of setting up this kind of signaling. Since last summer, we can install countdowns on pedestrian crossings, before there were experiments and we realized that there was an interest. So, you have to see if this does not trigger a sense of urgency for some people who will start running to cross when they see the orange light. For those who move more slowly, it will be an indication that we are in a transitional period between the green light and the red light.
Isn’t there a problem with the behavior of the French?
Yes, there is a problem of behavior but not of the knowledge of the rule. It just keeps getting worse. We are each in our bubble, especially in urban areas, and this has perhaps intensified with the headphones, the telephone and the feeling that we have the possibility of arranging with ourselves to make the most possible fluid. A recent study shows that the French don’t like having to stop.