The problem of how best to enforce speed limits has been examined in a number of trials abroad. The results are presented of experiments in Finland and the Netherlands which examined the effect of publicity and penalties on the occurrence of driving offences, in particular speeding. Results showed that whilst drink driving and the use of safety belts or studded tyres could be influenced by such measures it was more difficult to control speed. An attempt is made to understand why speeding is hard to control. A major factor is the low risk of apprehension. Drivers were also shown to rate speeding fairly low as a driving offence. In maximising the effects of traffic enforcement, of particular importance is the percentage time spent in detecting speeding offences (less than a quarter of total traffic enforcement time in Finland). Where resources are limited the use of automatic enforcement is considered and brief details are given of experiments in Norway and the Netherlands and of Finland's SUNTIO expert system. For the covering abstract of the conference see IRRD 843582.
Samenvatting