Risk perception, worry, and pedestrian behaviour in the Norwegian population

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate the association between pedestrians' risk perception and worry, and how worry influence pedestrians' behaviour. Worry is regarded as a feeling that emerges as a result of an individual's cognitive assessment of risk. The study was based on a questionnaire survey carried out among a representative sample (n = 2000) of the Norwegian population. The results showed differences in how people perceived risk and how worried they were about being exposed to different hazards (traffic accident, harassment, theft, and terror) as a pedestrian during night-time and daytime. As expected, pedestrians perceived their risk as higher and were more worried being exposed to hazards during night-time than in daytime. Structural equation modelling (SEM) revealed that risk perception was a significant predictor variable for worry during both night-time and daytime. Additionally, worry was found to influence pedestrian behaviour. Worry was moderately associated with walking frequency during night-time, and how often individuals walked alone outdoors during night-time. These associations were stronger for people without access to a private car. No associations were found between worry and walking frequency during daytime. The results of the study contribute to the understanding of the association between pedestrians' risk perceptions and worry, and how worry influence walking frequency. From both a pro-environmental and a health promoting perspective, it is important that people choose to walk or cycle for their daily travels.

Keywords: Night-time; Pedestrian behaviour; Risk perception; Risk tolerance; Traffic accidents; Worry.