Rule-orientation and adherence to traffic laws among French drivers: An exploratory study

Abstract

In 2022, 30 million traffic offences were recorded by the enforcement authorities on French roads, resulting in more than 16 million penalty points being deducted from driving licences. Why do French drivers not always comply with the rules of the road? Previous studies have shown that Attitudes, Subjective Norms and Perceived Behavioural Control are strong predictors of the intention to obey traffic laws (Theory of Planned Behaviour, TPB, Ajzen, 1991). In this paper, we investigate drivers’ relationship with traffic rules in more depth. We identified several other factors as potential extensions of the TPB in explaining compliance with traffic rules. To test the impact of these dimensions on compliance and to understand the motivations behind French drivers’ lack of compliance, we conducted an online questionnaire survey among a representative sample of 1021 French drivers (mean age: 44.3, 49.9 % women). In addition to the TPB measures, we used a combination of existing scales (Conformity and Sensation Seeking) and exploratory items specifically designed to measure additional components. We named these four distinct components Conditionality, Discourtesy, Authority Rejection, and Egonomy, respectively. Aside from the TPB components, Conditionality and Conformity predicted intentions to always obey traffic rules; testing the same model on reported drink-driving, we found an effect of Discourtesy and Sensation Seeking, but not of the TPB components measured at a general level (“towards traffic rules”); whereas Authority Rejection, Egonomy and Attitudes towards traffic rules were linked to attitudes towards police checkpoints. These findings open up new perspectives for the study of rule orientation in the field of road safety, raise questions about the relevance of conducting general prevention campaigns targeting specific behaviours, and reveal the difficulty perceived by the participants in ’always’ respecting the rules of the road.