Improving payment of traffic fines with financial incentives: Discounts vs. penalties

Plessis, Sophia du; Hartig, Bjoern; Jansen, Ada; Siebrits, Krige

doi:10.1016/j.trf.2020.08.019

Cited by 13 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…The aspects of speeding that have been studied have included factors that determine drivers' speed choices [6,7] and the effectiveness of mechanisms to identify transgressions of speeding laws, such as speed cameras and road and aerial surveillance [3,5,8]. In addition, a large body of research has explored aspects of the implementation and efficacy of various sanctions for speeding such as fines and demerit points that culminate in the suspension of driver's licenses [5,7,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. These writings underscore that the efficacy of speeding laws hinges on effective enforcement: drivers are deterred from speeding by high probabilities of apprehension and sufficiently severe punishment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Better Enforcement Is Essential, but May Be Inadequate: Findings of a Survey on the Factors Affecting Payment of Speeding Fines in Cape Town, South Africa

et al. 2021

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While a large body of research has established that effective enforcement of speeding laws is essential for reducing the economic and social costs of road accidents, some studies have suggested that interventions aimed at moral beliefs about speeding and peer-related and other social contagion effects may be important complements to law enforcement activities. This article presents tentative evidence of the complementary nature of interventions to influence moral beliefs and steps to strengthen the enforcement of traffic laws. It does this by presenting and discussing the results of a survey that elicited information about the attitudes of motorists in Cape Town regarding speeding fines and aspects of the administration of traffic laws in South Africa. The self-reported fine-paying behaviour of the respondents correlates with instrumental factors shaped by the effectiveness of enforcement actions (e.g., compliance and monetary costs) as well as normative factors influenced by the moral beliefs of drivers and their social groups as well as the perceived legitimacy of traffic laws and officials. Regression results also provide evidence of a statistically significant relationship between the respondents’ self-reported fine-paying behaviour and their moral beliefs regarding payment of speeding fines.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Better Enforcement Is Essential, but May Be Inadequate: Findings of a Survey on the Factors Affecting Payment of Speeding Fines in Cape Town, South Africa

et al. 2021

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“…If speeding fines are inconsequential, they no longer deter traffic violations (Zhao et al, 2019). The potential effectiveness of speeding fines to increase safety on SA roads is rendered almost obsolete because so many offenders default on payment, as evidenced by the fact that only 26% of fines issued between July 2014 and July 2016 in Cape Town had been settled by the beginning of September 2016 (Du Plessis et al, 2020). Relatively little research has been conducted within the field of psychology to understand motorists' fine-paying behaviours in SA, despite the potential of applying theories of behaviour change to promote road safety.…”

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“…If traffic laws are not enforced, the number of speeding infringements increases, making traffic fines an important mechanism to reduce speeding (da Silva et al, 2017;Ritchey & Nicholson-Crotty, 2011). Portable and fixed cameras make speeding one of the easiest traffic violations to detect (Du Plessis et al, 2020), but if traffic fines are not enforced, there is little point in detecting infringements. Enforcing speeding fines is integral to promoting road safety (Zhao et al, 2019); nonetheless, motorists' widespread disregard for fines in SA appears to be an obstacle to improving road safety (Du Plessis et al, 2020).…”

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“…Licence suspension may thus be inappropriate in SA, since income inequality in the country makes such measures inequitable and extremely punitive for some motorists, especially given the absence of a reliable, affordable, and extensive public transport system. Media campaigns have also been used to encourage fine payment, but these have been relatively ineffective in changing behaviour (Du Plessis et al, 2020). 'Name and shame' lists have been used in some countries, for example, in Australia, to apply social pressure on motorists who do not pay fines, by posting the personal details of these individuals in the media, thus stigmatising individuals who default on fines (Quilter & Hogg, 2018).…”

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Motorists’ perceptions of factors that influence payment of speeding fines in Cape Town, South Africa: application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour

Bantjes

Plessis

Jansen

et al. 2021

South African Journal of Psychology

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Despite the aggressive enforcement of speed limits, speeding remains the second leading cause of fatalities in vehicle accidents in South Africa. Speeding fines are one mechanism for enforcing speed limits; however, these are only effective deterrents against speeding if fines are enforced. The potential effectiveness of speeding fines to increase safety on South African roads is rendered almost obsolete because so many offenders default on payment. Our aim was to utilise the Theory of Planned Behaviour as a framework to explore motorists’ perceptions of factors that may influence the payment of speeding fines in Cape Town, South Africa. Self-report data were collected from participants who had received fines ( n = 268), about their speed fine-paying behaviour, their perceptions of the consequences of non-payment, subjective and social norms, and control beliefs about the ease with which fines can be paid and motorists’ ability to afford fines. Regression analysis showed that motorists who report paying their fines are more likely than those who do not pay to hold beliefs that non-payment will result in serious consequences, affirm injunctive norms supporting the payment of fines, believe that it is easy to pay fines, and are able to afford to pay. This study provides novel insights into the potential of theories of behaviour change to design evidence-based behavioural interventions to encourage motorists to comply with speeding fines and hence to improve road safety in South Africa.

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“… See Andreoni et al (1998) andSlemrod (2019) for general reviews on tax compliance,Luttmer and Singhal (2014) for a review on tax morale, andMascagni (2018) andHallsworth (2014) for reviews on tax experiments.4 Exemptions includeHaynes et al (2013), Du Plessis et al (2020 andDusek et al (2020). See Section 2.2 for details.5 It has been argued that fines should impact offenders equally, which is not the case in a fixed-rate fine system that affects low-income offenders disproportionately(Chapman et al, 2004).…”

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Social norms or enforcement? A natural field experiment to improve traffic and parking fine compliance

Sinning

Zhang

2021

SSRN Journal

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Any opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author(s) and not those of IZA. Research published in this series may include views on policy, but IZA takes no institutional policy positions. The IZA research network is committed to the IZA Guiding Principles of Research Integrity. The IZA Institute of Labor Economics is an independent economic research institute that conducts research in labor economics and offers evidence-based policy advice on labor market issues. Supported by the Deutsche Post Foundation, IZA runs the world's largest network of economists, whose research aims to provide answers to the global labor market challenges of our time. Our key objective is to build bridges between academic research, policymakers and society. IZA Discussion Papers often represent preliminary work and are circulated to encourage discussion. Citation of such a paper should account for its provisional character. A revised version may be available directly from the author.

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Improving payment of traffic fines with financial incentives: Discounts vs. penalties

Cited by 13 publications

References 20 publications

Better Enforcement Is Essential, but May Be Inadequate: Findings of a Survey on the Factors Affecting Payment of Speeding Fines in Cape Town, South Africa

Better Enforcement Is Essential, but May Be Inadequate: Findings of a Survey on the Factors Affecting Payment of Speeding Fines in Cape Town, South Africa

Motorists’ perceptions of factors that influence payment of speeding fines in Cape Town, South Africa: application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour

Social norms or enforcement? A natural field experiment to improve traffic and parking fine compliance

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