Are perceptions of penalties stable across time? The problem of causal ordering in deterrence applied to road safety

Low-range, mid-range and high-range speeding: The association with speeding habits, perceived legitimacy and deterrence

INTRODUCTION

Speeding is a global road safety concern contributing to an excessive number of fatal crashes and serious debilitating injuries. Research identifying amendable factors associated with speeding to inform interventions is critical.

METHOD

This study examined the association of habit, perceived legitimacy of enforcement, and deterrence elements with three levels of speeding behavior; low- (<10 km/hr over the posted speed limit), mid- (10-20 km/hr), and high-range (>20 km/hr) speeding. An online survey of 870 participants aged over 17 years (M = 37 years) was administered.

RESULTS

Approximately 80% of participants reported low-range speeding, 40% mid-range speeding, and 20% high-range speeding. Differences were found between speeding on urban and open roads with the proportion of participants greater for mid- and high-range speeding on open roads. Multiple linear regressions were run finding habit and deterrence variables to be significant predictors of all three levels of speeding. Perceived legitimacy of enforcement was a significant predictor of high-range speeding only.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

These findings suggest countermeasures that encourage good speed-related habits would be promising. It is also concluded that additional deterrence measures that reduce punishment avoidance experiences (e.g., better detection of speeding behaviors) are needed to further curb speeding behaviors. Nevertheless, the current punishment for all levels of speeding is perceived to be an effective deterrent. These recommendations inform policy, training and education, and campaigns that target engagement in speeding.

Differences in the perceived justice of penalties for road traffic offences between Lithuanian offenders and non-offenders

Most countries around the world use the penalties’ system in order to increase compliance with road traffic rules. However, it can be argued that the most penalties’ systems are ineffective, as drivers do not change offending behavior due to received penalty and repeatedly violate them. The perceived fairness of these penalties may be related to the level of adherence to these traffic rules. Therefore, this research explored the perceived justice of penalties for road traffic rules in a sample of Lithuanian drivers and investigated the differences between offenders and non-offenders. The sample consisted of 358 participants (63.4 percent females, aged 18–75, mean age 35.2 years) who completed an online survey. Participants were asked to report how fair they believed penalties were for road traffic rule offences in general and using a list of 23 specific penalties, including: drink driving, speeding, dangerous maneuverings, illegal overtaking, handheld phone use while driving, etc. The survey measured demographic data, as well as data regarding driving exposure, traffic offences and crashes during the last 12 months. The results revealed that in general drivers perceived the penalties as fair or adequate. The answer “adequate/fair” was chosen most frequently for almost all penalties (from 41.1 to 71.3 percent), with only the penalty for carrying a child without a car seat (€30–50) being perceived as too mild (55.5%). Gender differences were found in the evaluation of the penalty for driving under the influence of alcohol, while age and driving frequency differences were found in the perceived fairness of the penalties for not using a seatbelt, aberrant driving and using a handheld mobile phone while driving. Drivers who reported no offences during the last year, perceived the penalties for speeding as being too mild, when compared to drivers with at least one penalty over the previous year. Contrarily, offenders reported the penalties for speeding as being too severe. Offenders, who experienced driving license suspension, perceived the penalties as being too severe for drink driving and aberrant driving than offenders who received monetary fines. In summary, both Lithuanian offenders and non-offenders generally perceived the penalties for traffic rule offences as adequate and fair, but individual differences and the experience of traffic sanctions were related to the perceived justice of specific penalties.

A unified deterrence-based model of legal and non-legal factors that influence young driver speeding behaviour

Young driver speeding behaviour remains a large contributor to road trauma worldwide. In order to provide a more-in depth understanding of how to deter young drivers from this behaviour, this study developed and tested a model of the legal and non-legal factors that influence young driver's intentional speeding behaviour (exceeding the speed limit by more than 10 km/hr). A prospective survey design was conducted to measure the impact of perceptions of legal factors (including classical deterrence and reconceptualised deterrence variables) and non-legal factors (including the variables of fear of physical loss, material loss and perceived social sanctions, as well as the perception that it is safe to engage in the behaviour without being involved in a crash) at time 1, on engagement in speeding behaviour at time 2, which occurred 3 months later. A total of 200 participants aged 17-25 years completed both surveys (Mean age = 20.44 years). Using structural equation modelling, a unique model combining classical and extended deterrence theory, as well as prominent non-legal factors was created, and the variables were able to explain 41% of the variance in speeding behaviour. A high perceived severity of the punishment, experiencing direct punishment avoidance and perceiving that it is safe to speed were significant direct predictors. Meanwhile, there were also numerous significant partially mediated relationships found for both legal and non-legal variables. These findings provide important implications for both the application of deterrence-based theories in road safety and for improving countermeasures to deter young drivers more effectively from engagement in speeding.