This paper draws upon a case study of an increase in statutory penalties for drink-driving offences in order to examine the contribution of legal knowledge to perceptions of punishment severity and decisions to drink and drive. In 1998, the NSW State Government doubled the penalties for almost all drink-driving offences with the aim to deter offending and improve road safety. An interrupted time-series analysis, examining the impact of this legislation, found no evidence for a reduction in alcohol-related road accidents after the legislation was enacted (Briscoe 2004a), despite a significant increase in the average penalties drink-drivers received (Briscoe 2004b). Utilising a scenario-based survey methodology, this study investigates whether people who have more accurate knowledge of the sanctions currently applicable to drink-driving offences in NSW, perceive drink driving penalties to be more severe and state that they are less likely to offend compared to those who have little or poor knowledge of the law. (Author/publisher) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E211985.
Samenvatting