Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour was used to measure the attitudes and intentions of a large stratified sample of drivers (N . 881) towards four driving violations. Measures were taken of respondents' attitudes to four imaginary scenarios depicting their commissionof the four violations concerned. The four scenarios involved a) driving when over the legal blood alcohol limit; b) speeding down a residential street at 40 mph when the speed limit is 30 mph; c) close following on a three lane motorway; and d) dangerous overtaking. Demographic subgroups of drivers within the sample were differentiated on the basis of their beliefs about and evaluations of their commission of the violations. We were able to identify attitude items differentiating the younger, statistically more "accident liable" driversin the sample from their older, and statistically safer counterparts. The implications of using this approach to inform future road safety campaigns are discussed. (A)
Abstract