The impact of navigation application enforcement alerts on road safety

Road trauma remains a significant global public health issue. While enforcement of illegal and high-risk driving behaviours has been associated with significant reductions in associated trauma, technological advances and behavioural adaptation among motorists continue to present barriers to enforcement efforts. A number of navigation applications provide users with the ability to receive alerts and share information on locations of speed enforcement and other police activity, potentially impacting road safety by undermining road rules, facilitating punishment avoidance, and encouraging mobile phone use while driving. Qualitative interviews with 28 Queensland drivers, who self-reported as regular speeders, showed that more than half (57.1%) reported using navigation applications for the specific purpose of receiving alerts about speed enforcement locations. This paper discusses the impact such alerts have on speeding behaviour, attitudes and punishment avoidance. Recommendations for policy and future research are also discussed.