{"id":2191,"date":"2020-01-20T12:13:25","date_gmt":"2020-01-20T02:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/?p=2191"},"modified":"2020-01-21T10:45:53","modified_gmt":"2020-01-21T00:45:53","slug":"young-drivers-deterrence-theory-and-punishment-avoidance-a-qualitative-exploration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/2020\/01\/20\/young-drivers-deterrence-theory-and-punishment-avoidance-a-qualitative-exploration\/","title":{"rendered":"Young drivers, deterrence theory and punishment avoidance: A qualitative exploration"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Lyndel Bates<\/a> and Levi Anderson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This brief is based on\nthe following paper:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bates, L. & Anderson, L. (online first) Young drivers, deterrence theory and punishment avoidance: A qualitative exploration<\/a>, Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What problem is your\nresearch designed to address? Why is it significant?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Young drivers have higher crash rates when compared with\nolder drivers (Blackman et al., 2008; Al Reesi et al., 2015 & Greydanus,\n2018). They also commit offences on the road with lower numbers of young\ndrivers reporting being caught by police when compared to those who indicate\noffending. Enforcement is a key mechanism used to alter driver behaviour (Bates\net al., 2012; Castillo-Manzano et al., 2019). Punishment avoidance occurs when\na person commits an offence but is not punished for it. It increases the\nlikelihood of offending because, for rational people, it decreases the\nperceptions regarding the certainty and severity of punishment (Stafford and\nWarr, 1993). This study explores the role of punishment avoidance in young\ndriver offending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did you conduct\nyour research?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Participants in this study were recruited through local\ncommunity and university social media pages as well as using local university\nannouncements. They were aged between 17 years of age (Queensland) and 18 years\nof age (Victoria) and 25. All participants held a provisional (Queensland) or\nprobationary (Victoria) licence that allowed them to drive unsupervised. Eleven\nfocus groups were held in both metropolitan and regional locations in\nQueensland (45.45%) and Victoria (54.55%). Participants were asked about their\nperceptions of police enforcement of road laws, the likelihood of being caught\nby police and whether parents had the ability to influence them and their\nadherence to the law. Of the 31 participants, 45.16% were male. An inductive\nthematic analysis was used to discover the common themes among the transcripts\nwith regards to punishment avoidance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are your major\nfindings?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The focus groups suggest that drivers experience punishment\navoidance through three different mechanisms: (a) active punishment avoidance;\n(b) direct and vicarious punishment avoidance of police enforcement and (c)\nparental punishment avoidance. Active punishment avoidance occurs when young\ndrivers deliberately and consciously take actions to avoid police and their\noperations in order to circumvent punishment. One way the young drivers did this\nwas by removing the \u2018P\u2019 plates when indicated their licence status to police.\nAnother way they actively avoided punishment was to select the roads to avoid\nroutes they believed were commonly policed. In rural areas, young drivers also\nrelied on the close relationships formed between the community and police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Direct punishment avoidance occurred when the young driver\nhad engaged in illegal driving behaviour, been caught by police and yet the\nofficer had made the decision to not punish the offender. If the participant\nhad witnessed or heard about this type of scenario occurring to another\nindividual, they had experienced indirect punishment avoidance. Both active\npunishment avoidance and direct or vicarious punishment avoidance appear to\nencourage young drivers to continue to engage in illegal driving behaviours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even when young drivers are punished by police, in some\ncases parents can facilitate punishment avoidance. For instance, some parents\nmay assume responsibility for camera detected offences in order to spare their\nchild from the financial costs or demerit points that are recorded on the\ndriver\u2019s licence. It appeared that parents would help their novice drivers\navoid some, but not all, punishments. For instance, they may only do this once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does your research mean for policy and practice?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Given that punishment avoidance appears to increase the\nlikelihood of future road offending (Watling et al., 2010; Szogi et al., 2017;\nTruelove et al., 2017; Armstrong et al., 2018), it is important to limit both\nthe actual and perceived punishment avoidance that occurs. For instance, the\nperceptions regarding the certainty of being caught could be increased through\nthe use of public media campaigns combined with traffic enforcement. There may\nalso be a need to use an appropriate intensity level of enforcement to ensure\ndrivers perceive that they cannot avoid punishment. It is also important for\npolice to follow through with a punishment when they detect a traffic offence.\nParents should not role model punishment avoidance behaviours nor should they\nfacilitate the avoidance of punishment for the offending behaviour of their\nchildren.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Al Reesi, H., Al Maniri, A., Al Adawi,\nS. et al. (2015). \u2018Prevalence and Characteristics of Road Traffic Injuries\namong Young Drivers in Oman, 2009\u20132011.\u2019 Traffic Injury Prevention 17: 480\u2013487.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Armstrong, K., Watling, C. and Davey,\nJ. (2018). \u2018Deterrence of Drug Driving: The Impact of the ACT Drug Driving\nLegislation and Detection Techniques.\u2019 Transportation Research Part F: Traffic\nPsychology and Behaviour 54: 138\u2013147.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bates, L., Soole, D., and Watson, B.\n(2012). \u2018The Effectiveness of Traffic Policing in Reducing Traffic Crashes.\u2019 In\nPrenzler, T. (ed.), Policing and Security in Practice: Challenges and Achievements.\nBasingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 90\u2013109.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blackman, R., Cheffins, T., and\nVeitch, C. (2008). \u2018Young Driver Restrictions: Does the Evidence Support\nThem?.\u2019 Australian Journal of Rural Health 16: 332\u2013337.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Castillo-Manzano, J., Castro-Nuno, M.,\nLopez-Valpuesta, L., and Pedregal, D. (2019). \u2018From Legislation to Compliance:\nThe Power of Traffic Law Enforcement for the Case Study of Spain.\u2019 Transport\nPolicy 75: 1\u20139.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greydanus, D. (2018). \u2018The Killing on\nthe Roads.\u2019 International Journal of Child and Adolescent Health 11: 145\u2013173.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stafford, M. and Warr, M. (1993). \u2018A\nReconceptualization of General and Specific Deterrence.\u2019 Journal of Research in\nCrime and Delinquency 30: 123\u2013135.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Szogi, E., Darvell, M., Freeman, J. et\nal. (2017). \u2018Does Getting Away with It Count? An Application of Stafford and\nWarr\u2019s Reconceptualised Model of Deterrence to Drink Driving.\u2019 Accident\nAnalysis & Prevention 108: 261\u2013267.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Truelove, V., Freeman, J., Szogi, E.\net al. (2017). \u2018Beyond the Threat of Legal Sanctions: What Deters Speeding\nBehaviours?.\u2019 Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour\n50: 128\u2013136.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watling, C., Palk, G., Freeman, J.,\nand Davey, J. (2010). \u2018Applying Stafford and Warr\u2019s Reconceptualization of\nDeterrence Theory to Drug Driving: Can It Predict Those Likely to Offend?.\u2019\nAccident Analysis & Prevention 42: 452\u2013458.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lyndel Bates and Levi Anderson This brief is based on the following paper: Bates, L. & Anderson, L. (online first) Young drivers, deterrence theory and punishment avoidance: A qualitative exploration, Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice. What problem is your research designed to address? Why is it significant? Young drivers have higher crashContinue reading “Young drivers, deterrence theory and punishment avoidance: A qualitative exploration”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2192,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,74,37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-briefs","category-driver-education","category-road-policing"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"Keiran Hardy","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2020\/01\/crash-test-1620592_1280.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paNLK1-zl","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3224,"url":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/2025\/08\/06\/1-2m-grant-for-griffith-criminology-institutes-ass-prof-lyndel-bates-for-safer-roads-project\/","url_meta":{"origin":2191,"position":0},"title":"$1.2m grant for Griffith Criminology Institute\u2019s Ass\/Prof Lyndel Bates for safer roads project","author":"Anna Hartley","date":"August 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Associate Professor Lyndel Bates from GCI has been awarded an ARC Future Fellowship. Associate Professor Lyndel Bates, from Griffith Criminology Institute, was awarded $1,286,884 for her project, 'Using an impaired driving context to enhance deterrence' through an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellowship. The project aims to investigate how impaired\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2025\/08\/Lyndel-hori.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2025\/08\/Lyndel-hori.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2025\/08\/Lyndel-hori.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1248,"url":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/2019\/08\/08\/the-enforcement-of-young-driver-behaviour-within-graduated-driver-licensing-systems\/","url_meta":{"origin":2191,"position":1},"title":"The enforcement of young driver behaviour within graduated driver licensing systems","author":"Keiran Hardy","date":"August 8, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"By Lyndel Bates This brief is based on the following paper: Bates, L., Rodwell, D. & Matthews, S. (2019) Young driver enforcement within graduated driver licensing systems: A scoping review, Crime Prevention and Community Safety, 21(2), 116-135. What problem does your research address? Why is this significant? Young drivers engage\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "briefs"","block_context":{"text":"briefs","link":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/category\/briefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2019\/08\/road-policing.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2019\/08\/road-policing.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2019\/08\/road-policing.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2019\/08\/road-policing.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1973,"url":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/2019\/11\/04\/the-effect-of-psychosocial-factors-on-perceptions-of-driver-education-using-the-goals-for-driver-education-framework\/","url_meta":{"origin":2191,"position":2},"title":"The effect of psychosocial factors on perceptions of driver education","author":"Keiran Hardy","date":"November 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"By Lyndel Bates This brief is based on the following paper: Bates, L., Hawkins, A., Rodwell, D., Anderson, L., Watson, B., Filtness, A. & Larue, G. 2019, The effect of psychosocial factors on perceptions of driver education using the Goals for Driver Education framework, Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "briefs"","block_context":{"text":"briefs","link":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/category\/briefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2019\/11\/shutterstock_770317015.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2019\/11\/shutterstock_770317015.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2019\/11\/shutterstock_770317015.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2019\/11\/shutterstock_770317015.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1355,"url":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/2019\/08\/30\/exploring-the-impact-of-retirement-on-police-officers-wellbeing\/","url_meta":{"origin":2191,"position":3},"title":"Exploring the impact of retirement on police officers’ wellbeing","author":"Keiran Hardy","date":"August 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"By Lyndel Bates, Elise Sargeant and Christine Carney* This brief is based on the following paper published by the authors: Carney, C., Bates, L. & Sargeant, E. (2019) Exploring the impact of retirement on police officers wellbeing, Police Practice and Research: An International Journal, DOI:10.1080\/15614263.2019.1658584. What problem does your research\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "briefs"","block_context":{"text":"briefs","link":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/category\/briefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2019\/08\/shutterstock_1099156607-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2019\/08\/shutterstock_1099156607-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2019\/08\/shutterstock_1099156607-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2019\/08\/shutterstock_1099156607-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2322,"url":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/gci-insights\/2020\/04\/02\/trauma-of-young-people-in-youth-detention-centres\/","url_meta":{"origin":2191,"position":4},"title":"Trauma of young people in youth detention centres","author":"Keiran Hardy","date":"April 2, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"By Tony Jamieson* Young people in youth detention centres In Queensland there are over 250 beds between the existing two youth detention centres in Brisbane and Townsville, with a third centre currently being constructed that will bring the total beds to just under 300. 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This leads to the same reaction we see following any high-profile crime. How could such a thing happen? 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