French campaign shows fatherhood, masculinity as factors affecting road safety
French road safety campaign | @RoutePlusSure
In France, a road safety awareness campaign is addressing the role of the gendered behaviour of vehicle drivers. The campaign is warning that toxic forms of masculinity could contribute to traffic-related deaths due to speed, alcohol, drugs, and fatigue. The campaign video shows men at the birth of their sons. It then contrasts it with toughed-up masculine stereotypes while trying to add sensitivity as determining factor in road safety.
"Speed, alcohol, drugs, fatigue… what if we need to add masculinity?" the French road safety body asked of the list of factors that typically lead to road accidents. The caption reads: "On the road, 8 out of 10 deaths are men. Be the man you want to be, but be a living man."
How many men are killed in accidents in France?
In 2022, about 78 per cent of those killed in road accidents in France were men. This was close to the average across the European Union. Among the French drivers aged 18–24 killed on the road last year, 88 per cent were men. Of people suspected to have caused road accidents, 84 per cent were men, while men accounted for 93 per cent of drunk drivers involved in an accident.
Experts cited in the Western media said that the campaign is about prompting people to examine their behaviour and not implying that all men are bad drivers.
The sociologist Alain Mergier who carried out a study on masculinity and driving across all age groups for the campaign told The Guardian: "It’s striking how certain stereotypes are persistently passed from father to son, including the car as a symbolic object of masculinity, male identity, and virility. This isn’t given much thought and yet we can see the far-reaching impact on accidents."
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He said some boys and men were taught from childhood that the car was their symbol and it was through driving that they could "defend their manliness".
"It could lead to the sense that a man has to prove himself by mastering a vehicle, such as accelerating or breaking speed limits to show 'I’m a real man'," Mergier added.