Publish at November 01 2023 Updated January 15 2026
If the existence of roads is proof positive of the opening-up of areas, a guarantee of development, they are also the source of a whole range of ills and nuisances of all kinds, from traffic accidents to health problems.
According to the findings of the literature review consulted by the researcher, these ills are experienced differently depending on social class. Individuals from underprivileged backgrounds would be the main victims.
Linking road traffic to social inequalities, Sarah Mahdjoub-Assaad has written a scathing doctoral thesis: "Les nuisances liées au trafic routier (bruit, pollution de l'air et insécurité) : de la gêne à la perception du risque sanitaire sous l'angle des inégalités sociales". This research has two objectives:
In order to achieve these objectives, the researcher organizes her reflection into three parts: the state of knowledge, the survey and general discussion. With a view to reporting on this work, she presents the state of knowledge, the data collection tools and sampling, and finally the results of the research.
In this section, Sarah acknowledges that road traffic-related nuisances are not new. The Romans were already complaining about them. In France, these annoying nuisances are the scourges of society and health, of interest to numerous institutions such as BruitParif (Observatoire du bruit en Île-de-France). The researcher classifies nuisances into three categories, which she presents succinctly along with the risks incurred for humans: noise, pollution and insecurity. She then analyses road nuisance from the angle of social inequality.
Whether it's social inequalities in relation to noise, pollution or road unsafety, the literature on the subject hardly reveals unanimous conclusions. This is due to variations in study design and methodology, not to mention the lack of data in some European countries. Aware of this obstacle, Sarah has included other factors in her analysis, namely socio-demographic, socio-economic and mobility determinants.
After presenting the current state of knowledge concerning the variables of her research, the researcher proceeds to delimit the field of study.
The researcher conducted two cross-sectional "general population" surveys in the Rhône département, in 2013 and 2014 respectively. The first survey focused on annoyance, and involved 720 respondents. The second survey focused on the perception of health risk and the feeling of its effects, and saw the participation of 277 subjects, corresponding to volunteers from the first study who agreed to continue with the survey. The main data collection tool was the questionnaire. By analysing the data, Sarah was able to draw some conclusions.
Asked to identify the determinants of perceived discomfort with noise, air pollution and road accidents, the researcher hypothesized that those most discomforted were the most disadvantaged.
Reference
Mahdjoub-Assaad Sarah, 2018, Les nuisances liées au trafic routier (bruit, pollution de l'air et insécurité) : de la gêne à la perception du risque sanitaire sous l'angle des inégalités sociales -Université de Lyon - online
https://theses.hal.science/tel-02062646
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