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https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/27432/critical-issues-in-transportation-for-2024-and-beyond

LAW, SCIENCE, AND ACCIDENTS: THE BRITISH ROAD SAFETY ACT OF 1967

THIS REPORT PRESENTS AND ANALYZES A VARIETY OF DATA OBTAINED IN GREAT BRITAIN FOR THE PURPOSE OF EVALUATING THE ROAD SAFETY ACT OF 1967 WHICH INTRODUCED SCIENTIFIC TESTS TO DETERMINE AND DEFINE THE THEME OF DRINKING AND DRIVING. THE CLAIMS OF EFFECTIVENESS IN REDUCING THE CASUALTY RATE ARE EXAMINED, AS ARE THE RAMIFICATIONS OF THE LEGISLATION IN THE SYSTEM OF CITIZENS, POLICE, LAWYERS AND JUDGES THROUGH WHICH THE ACT WAS APPLIED AND BY WHICH THE ACT WAS, IN FACT, MODIFIED. THE REPORT THUS ADDS TO THE LITERATURE ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF LEGAL CONTROL IN THE TRAFFIC CONTEXT, AS WELL AS TO THE LITERATURE ON LAW IN ACTION WHICH TRACES DIFFERENCES BETWEEN FORMAL RULES AND THE DAY-TO-DAY OUTCOMES OF THESE RULES TO THE SOCIAL CONTEXTX ON WHICH THE RULES ARE APPLIED. IN SUM, THE STUDY OF THE ROAD SAFETY ACT OF 1967 PROVIDES SUPPORT FOR THE HYPOTHESIS THAT SUBJECTIVE CERTAINTY OF PUNISHMENT CAN DETER SOCIALLY HARMFUL BEHAVIOR AS EXEMPLIFIED BY DRINKING AND DRIVING IN GREAT BRITAIN. HOWEVER, THE BASIC DIFFICULTIES OF DETECTION, ALONG WITH ORGANIZATIONAL PROBLEMS IN THE LEGAL SYSTEM, UNDERMINED THE OBJECTIVE PROBABILITY OF PUNISHMENT AND PERMITTED INDIVIDUAL LEARNING EVENTUALLY TO REDUCE THE DETERRENT EFFECT OF THE LEGISLATION. IF THIS ANALYSIS IS CORRECT, IT FOLLOWS THAT A REVIVAL OF THE DETERRENT EFFECT OF THE ROAD SAFETY ACT DEPENDS ON OVERCOMING ORGANIZATIONAL PROBLEMS RATHER THAN ON CHANGING THE FORMAL RULES, AS CURRENTLY SUGGESTED BY MANY AUTHORITIES IN BRITAIN. THE PRINCIPAL USED IN THIS RESEARCH IS THE STUDY OF STATISTICAL TRENDS OVER TIME, EMPLOYING INTERRUPTED TIME-SERIES ANALYSIS WHERE POSSIBLE. THE BASIC IDEA OF INTERRUPTED TIME-SERIES ANALYSIS, ELABORATED IN PART IV, IS THAT WHERE A CAUSE-AND-EFFECT RELATIONSHIP IS POSITED BY THEORY, STUDY OF THE EFFECT VARIABLE OVER TIME CAN DISTINGUISH THE THEORETICAL RELATIONSHIP FROM A VARIETY OF POSSIBLE IRRELEVANT ONES. THIS ANALYSIS REQUIRES EXTENDED DATA SERIES FOR EACH POSITED EFFECT, WHICH IN THIS STUDY INCLUDES NOT ONLY ACCIDENT DATA BUT MEASURES OF TESTING, CHARGING, CONVICTION, MILEAGE, AND ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION. THESE DATA, OBTAINED FROM PRIVATE AND OFFICIAL FILES IN GREAT BRITAIN DURING THE SUMMER OF 1971, WERE SUPPLEMENTED BY INTERVIEWS TO LEARN THE HISTORY OF THE LEGISLATION AND THE REACTION OF INTEREST GROUPS AND OF VARIOUS ORGANIZATIONS WITHIN THE LEGAL SYSTEM TO ITS ENACTMENT AND ENFORCEMENT.(A)

  • Corporate Authors:

    Nat Safety Council Res Info Serv

    ,    
  • Authors:
    • Ross, H L
  • Publication Date: 1973

Media Info

  • Features: Figures; References; Tables;
  • Pagination: 79 p.

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00224535
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: Nat Safety Council Safety Res Info Serv
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Jul 31 1974 12:00AM