Abstract
To prevent dangerous driving behaviors, the Spanish government has implemented public policies focused primarily on increasing the harshness of sanctions for violations of traffic laws. However, empirical evidence has demonstrated that other factors, such as social norms and one’s own value system, have an impact on people’s motivation to obey the law. A telephone survey was administered to a random sample of 570 Spanish drivers in order to determine the role played by each of these factors in compliance with two of the most flouted traffic rules. Logistic regression of the data allowed for the construction of models and arrive at the following conclusions: (1) social influence exerted by the reference group is a determining factor in compliance with both traffic laws; (2) legitimacy factors play an important role in complying with alcohol limits; and (3) variables from the deterrence approach only influenced compliance with speed limits, and then only moderately. The results of the present study suggest a need for a review of current public policy approaches for the prevention of dangerous driving behaviors.
Highlights
IntroductionThe Deterrence Model [1] emphasizes the importance of the features of formal punishment on decision-making and driver control
Scientific study of law-related human behavior has taken different approaches to the question of whether the decision to violate a norm or not is determined by the adverse consequences of a violation.For example, the Deterrence Model [1] emphasizes the importance of the features of formal punishment on decision-making and driver control
Before the construction of the models used in this article, a bivariate analysis of all the variables was completed in order to identify the magnitude of the relationship between each independent variable and the obedience to the norms; it was used to determine the possible existence of multi-colinearity in the predictor variables
Summary
The Deterrence Model [1] emphasizes the importance of the features of formal punishment on decision-making and driver control. This model hypothesizes that the greater the perceived certainty, severity, and celerity of sanctions, the lower the likelihood that an individual will violate the law. Some researchers have even concluded that empirical evidence does not support the influence of this factor on deviant behavior [6] It may be inferred from the meta-analysis of Pratt, Cullen, Blevins, Daigle, and Dansen [9], and in support of what has just been stated, that the preventive effects of the variables of the Dissuasion Model on deviance are modest.
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