This working paper describes the opinions and perceptions of a range of stakeholders towards Traffic Law Enforcement (TLE) in a small sample of European countries (the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Greece and Poland). The findings are based on in-depth interviews held with a variety of professionals, some indecision making positions and most of whom are not involved directly in traffic policing. The interviews sought to obtain the personal views on police enforcement policies and practices regarding speeding, drink-driving, seatbelt use, advanced technology, cross border traffic, and attitudes towards EU harmonisation and Directives in the area of TLE. The findings – qualitative rather than quantitative in nature – revealed a wide range of opinions, both positive and critical in nature. The need for effective enforcement was universally recognised, particularly in the areas of speeding, drink-driving and seat belt wearing. There was far less agreement about what constituted ‘best practice’ or how effective current practices were. The state of economic development, unique sociocultural attributes and the current status of technological devices, were some of the factors mentioned as influencing the actual intensity and impacts of traffic policing. The same factors play a role in the level of support for harmonization and EU-lead traffic regulations. (Author/publisher) For the project website, and other reports, see http://www.vtt.fi/sites/pepper/
Abstract