French validation of the Traffic Locus of Control (T-LOC) scale among young drivers

Road accidents are still a major public health issue today, particularly among young drivers for whom these accidents are the leading cause of death. Indeed, they are involved in 31% of accidents and account for 15% of those killed (ONISR: Observatoire National Interministériel de la Sécurité Routière, Paris, 2018). The aim of this study is to explore the factor structure of the multidimensional scale of Traffic Locus of Control (T-LOC) among French students in order to shed new light on the potential causes of accidents. The sample includes 226 French students (145 women and 81 men), all drivers. The questionnaire comprises items translated into French from the T-LOC (Özkan and Lajunen in Pers Individ Dif 38:533–545, 2005) as well as items related to their socio-demographic and mobility characteristics. Exploratory (N = 226) and confirmatory factor (N = 195) analyses indicate that all items contribute to the creation of the four factors: Other drivers, Self, Vehicle and environment and Fate. The results of the hierarchical regressions indicate that Self, Other drivers, number of years holding a driving license, annual mileage, and age are factors that contribute significantly to road risk-taking. The four-factor structure of the French version appears to be an appropriate tool to better understand road behavior. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.