Accident Analysis and Prevention 52 (2013) 29–38 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Accident Analysis and Prevention j ourna l h o mepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/aap Influence of traffic enforcement on the attitudes and behavior of drivers Predrag Stanojevi ´ c a , Dragan Jovanovi ´ c b,∗ , Timo Lajunen c,d a Polytechnic School of Vocational Studies, Zveˇ can, Serbia b Faculty of Technical Sciences, Department of Transport, Novi Sad, Serbia c Department of Psychology, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey d Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 16 April 2012 Received in revised form 14 December 2012 Accepted 17 December 2012 Keywords: Enforcement Behavior Attitudes Accidents a b s t r a c t Traditionally, traffic enforcement has been an important means of improving traffic safety. Many studies have provided evidence of connections between the level of police enforcement and both driving behavior and the number of traffic accidents. In Northern Kosovo, there has been little, if any, traffic enforcement during the last 13 years. This situation has created a very rare research opportunity – it is now possible to directly study the influence of traffic enforcement on the attitudes and behavior of drivers by comparing two regions, one with traffic enforcement and one without it (Serbia vs. Northern Kosovo). The sample in the present study consisted of 424 drivers (204 from Serbia and 220 from Northern Kosovo). Ques- tionnaires included items about the behaviors of the drivers (e.g., speeding, seat belt, drunk driving) and their attitudes. We also conducted field observations of driving behavior. The results indicated that the lack of enforcement affects almost every type of behavior that we examined. Compared with drivers in Serbia, drivers in Northern Kosovo drive faster, exceed speed limits more frequently, use seat belts less frequently, drive after exceeding the legal limit for alcohol more often, commit aggressive and ordinary violations more frequently and are generally involved in more risky situations. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Traffic accidents are a leading cause of death in many countries. It is a well-established fact that the vast majority of all traffic acci- dents are caused by various types of human factors (Lewin, 1982; Rumar, 1985). Traffic law violations are usually recognized as an important component of the set of human factors that contributes to an increased risk of causing an accident. Previous research has established the links between risky driving behaviors and accident liability (e.g., Parker et al., 1995; Taylor et al., 2000). The most sig- nificant behavioral problems that are associated with accidents are also the ones that have the most serious consequences: speeding, drunk driving and failing to wear seat belts (Peden et al., 2004; Schick, 2007). Traditionally, traffic enforcement has appeared to be an impor- tant means of improving traffic safety. It has been suggested that adequate police enforcement that encourages full respect for and adherence to traffic laws and regulations could decrease the num- ber of accidents by as much as 50% (ETSC, 1999). In the Traffic Safety Handbook, Elvik et al. (1997) estimate that full compli- ance with speed regulations, avoiding driving while intoxicated ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +381 21 4852494; fax: +381 21 450644. E-mail address: draganj@uns.ac.rs (D. Jovanovi ´ c). and always using protective devices (e.g., seatbelts) could result in avoiding as many as 38% of fatalities and 17% of other traf- fic injuries. Evans (1991) has estimated that the number of traffic fatalities in the United States could be reduced by approximately 40% if drunk driving alone was eliminated. Estimates based on sta- tistical analyses of data from empirical studies suggest that these figures are much lower; a 10% reduction in traffic fatalities is at the upper end of the range of possible improvements. However, some well-implemented and sustained enforcement efforts have led to significant safety gains resulting to an improvement of 25% (according to Zaidel, 2002). The traffic laws and regulations that define socially accept- able road user behavior are important elements in developing a secure road environment and when applied, they are generally con- sidered one of the most effective ways of improving road users’ behaviors (Zaal, 1994). Police enforcement has proven effective in reducing both the mean speeds and the variance in speed on var- ious roadways (Holland and Conner, 1996; Vaa, 1997; De Waard and Rooijers, 1994). In their recent literature review, Elliott and Broughton (2005) concluded that increasing the level of police con- trol results in both a decrease in average road speed (approximately 3 mph) and a decrease in the percentage of drivers who exceed the speed limit (by between 3% and 64%). Recent research confirms that enforcement has effects on speeding. Walter et al. (2011) sum- marized the achieved effects of intensifying enforcement over a 0001-4575/$ – see front matter © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2012.12.019