On the basis of a review of traffic law enforcement experiments the following conclusions can be drawn: (1) traffic law enforcement involving a combination of visible surveillance and unobtrusive detection strategies is superior to other forms of enforcement activities; (2) a change in subjective probability of detection is necessary to achieve behavioural change; (3) the intensity of the enforcement activities needs to exceed a certain threshold to have an observable effect; and (4) combination of enforcement with other activities such as posted feedback or mass media information campaigns increases the effect of the enforcement activities. It is also concluded that lasting behavioural change can only be achieved if attitudes and norms regarding behaviour are changed, and that this can only be achieved in long-term strategies involving both mass media and enforcement activities. The lack of perception of the relative seriousness of various traffic law violations is identified as a major problem. On the basis of Dutch experiences regarding the change in speed limits it is argued that in practice the necessary requirements for effective law enforcement usually are not fulfilled. For this reason, new ways of enforcement need to be developed. It is argued that these only can be achieved by employing automatic enforcement systems, and that an essential element of these enforcement systems consists of providing feedback to the driver when he is about to commit a traffic offence. A conceptual framework and an outline of the possible technical realisation of these automatic policing and enforcement systems will be presented. (A)
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