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Speeding and deterrence A comparative analysis of police officer enforcement and camera-based systems923.46 kB
Published Version (Advanced Access)CC BY-NC-ND V4.0, Open Access
Journal article
Speeding and deterrence: A comparative analysis of police officer enforcement and camera-based systems
Policing and Society, Vol.Advanced access
2025
Abstract
Police officers and camera-based enforcement systems are commonly used to enforce similar offences, yet there has been limited literature examining the differences in effectiveness of these enforcement types. As such, this study examined differences in deterrence, procedural justice and legitimacy perceptions between police and camera enforcement for speeding, as well as examined the unique effect of each enforcement method on speeding behaviour. A cross-sectional survey was administered to 2258 licensed drivers across four Australian states. The study compared perceptions of certainty, severity and swiftness of punishment as well as punishment avoidance, agreeance, fairness, trustworthy motives, and legitimacy across both enforcement types. Further, a series of 6 linear regressions were conducted to assess the unique impact of police and camera enforcement at three speeding offence ranges (1–10, 11–20, 20+ kmph over the limit). The results demonstrated drivers were more confident that camera-based systems would detect and sanction low and mid-range speeding, while police officers were viewed as more trustworthy, fairer, and legitimate. The use of camera enforcement deterred low-range speeding, while police officer enforcement did not significantly deter speeding of any range. Drivers who supported or agreed with the enforcement of speed limits reported lower offending rates. This study is the first to empirically compare the differential deterrent, procedural justice and legitimacy effects of police and camera-based speed enforcement. The findings highlight the need for a complementary enforcement strategy, integrating and leveraging the strengths of both methodologies to enhance driver deterrence and perceived legitimacy in enforcement efforts.
Details
- Title
- Speeding and deterrence: A comparative analysis of police officer enforcement and camera-based systems
- Authors
- Levi Anderson (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Road Safety Research CollaborationVerity Truelove - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Road Safety Research Collaboration
- Publication details
- Policing and Society, Vol.Advanced access
- Publisher
- Routledge
- DOI
- 10.1080/10439463.2025.2573332
- ISSN
- 1477-2728; 1043-9463
- Copyright note
- © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
- Data Availability
- The participants of this study did not give written consent for their data to be shared publicly, so due to the sensitive nature of the research supporting data is not available.
- Grant note
- This work was supported by Motor Accident Insurance Commission (MAIC)/University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC) Road Safety Research Collaboration Grant.
- Organisation Unit
- Road Safety Research Collaboration; School of Law and Society
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991179279802621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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