Road safety behaviors: Role of control beliefs and risk perception

•Drivers with a high sense of control tend to underestimate risk.•Control beliefs lead individuals to engage in less safe behaviors.•Higher perception of road risk is linked to safer behaviors.•The link between control beliefs and safety behavior is moderated by age. Nowadays, drivers (both professional and private) are exposed to many risks, including accidents, for which prevention is becoming a major concern. Studies showed that understanding drivers' beliefs and perceptions of road risk is an important avenue to explore for the purpose of an effective prevention (Brewer et al., 2007; Kouabenan, 1998, 2002). This article looks at the relationship between control beliefs, risk perception, and road safety behaviors. One thousand and seventeen Moroccan professional and private drivers were asked to answer a questionnaire including scales measuring control beliefs, road risk perception and reported road safety behaviors. The results showed that drivers who possess a high sense of control over road risks tend to have a low perception of these risks and to adopt fewer safety behaviors. In addition, it is observed that drivers tend to adopt safer behaviors when they perceive road risk as high. The practical implications of this study for prevention are discussed.