The social construction of speeding as not 'Real' crime

Crime Prevention and Community Safety

Volumn 2, Issue 4, 2000, Pages 33-46

  Corbett, Claire ^a  

^a BRUNEL UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

countermeasures; education; enforcement; non crime; Speeding

Indexed keywords

EID: 0042247106     PISSN: 14603780     EISSN: 17434629     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1057/palgrave.cpcs.8140072     Document Type: Article

References (145)

1. The author is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Law, Brunel University; e-mail: claire.corbett@brunel.ac.uk.
2. For instance, Farmer, C.M., Retting, R.A. and Lund, A.K. (1999) Changes in Motor Vehicle Occupant Fatalities After Repeal of the National Maximum Speed Limit. Accident Analysis and Prevention. Vol. 31, No. 5, pp 537.43;
3. Taylor, M., Lynam, D. and Baruya, A. (2000) The Effects of Drivers. Speed on the Frequency of Road Accidents. Transport Research Laboratory Report No. 421. Crowthorne: TRL.
4. Such conclusions derive from studies based on analysis of police records (police assessments entered on .Stats 19. forms in England and Wales) or from in-depth accident investigations by researchers, and they tend to show that speed contributes to a higher percentage of more serious accidents.
5. Speeding or inappropriate speed for the circumstances can be the single main cause, but it can also contribute to erroneous decisions, such as misjudging another driver's path or speed; exact calculations of the involvement of speed are therefore impossible.
6. The issue of how to attain more consistency in attributing causes of accidents is considered in Broughton, J., Markey, K. and Rowe, D. (1998) A New System for Recording Contributory Factors in Road Accidents. Transport Research Laboratory Report No. 323. Crowthorne: Transport Research Laboratory.
7. Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (2000a) Tomorrow's Roads: Safer for Everyone. London: DETR, p 48.
8. These figures can be obtained, for instance, by extrapolation from Social Attitudes to Road Traffic Risk in Europe 2 (1998) The Attitudes and Behaviour of European Car Drivers to Road Safety. Leischendam: SWOV, p 7.
9. Home Office (1998a) Criminal Statistics for England and Wales 1997. London: HMSO, ch 4.
10. For instance, Sustrans (1997) Safety on the Streets for Children. Information sheet No. 10. Bristol: Sustrans;
11. Slower Speeds Initiative (1998) Policy Briefing No. 1. Norwich: SSI. Roadpeace is one of the foremost road safety lobbying groups in Britain, mainly comprising the bereaved relatives of road death victims. Together, the collective and growing force of these groups and their concerns.
12. see for instance Chaudhry, R. A (1996) Duty of Care. London Cyclist, January, pp 23.4) are becoming more difficult for government policy advisors to ignore.
13. Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1998a) Highways Economics Notes 1.
14. London: DETR. The 1998 calculation per casualty was £1,047,240, and is based on a valuation of human costs and direct economic costs, reflecting mainly the pain, grief and suffering to the casualty, relatives and friends, lost output, and medical and police costs.
15. Since 1993 an overarching .willingness to pay. approach has been employed which represents the public's views on the value of preventing a road accident fatality.
16. See http://www.roads.detr.gov.uk/roadsafety/hen198/index.htm.
17. Extrapolating from Sustrans, op cit.
18. Norris, F.H. (1992) Epidemiology of Trauma: Frequency and Impact of Different Potentially Traumatic Events on Different Demographic Groups. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. Vol. 60, No. 3, pp 409.18.
19. Sutherland, E. (1949) White Collar Crime. New York: Dryden Press.
20. Exceeding speed limits was first proscribed under the Motor Car Act 1903, and is mainly prosecuted under the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988.
21. Brown, I. and Copeman, A. (1975) Drivers. Attitudes to the Seriousness of Road Traffic Offences Considered in Relation to the Design of Sanctions. Accident Analysis and Prevention. Vol. 7, No. 1, pp 15.26;
22. O.Connell, M. and Whelan, A. (1996) Taking Wrongs Seriously: Public Perceptions of Crime Seriousness. British Journal of Criminology. Vol. 36, No. 2, pp 299.318.
23. Corbett, C. and Simon, F. (1991) Police and Public Perceptions of the Seriousness of Road Traffic Offences. British Journal of Criminology. Vol. 31, No. 2, pp 153.64.
24. Simon, F. and Corbett, C. (1991) A Small Roadside Study of Drivers Caught Breaking Speed Limits. In Grayson, G. (ed.) Behavioural Research in Road Safety II. Crowthorne: Transport Research Laboratory.
25. This paper illustrates, through qualitative and quantitative analysis, the low perceived seriousness of exceeding speed limits.
26. Similar views held by the driving public, traffic police and magistrates can be found.
27. Corbett, C., Simon, F. and O.Connell, M. (1998) The Deterrence of High Speed Driving: A Criminological Perspective. Contractor Report No. 296. Crowthorne: Transport Research Laboratory.
28. Even travelling at very high speeds may not be seen as dangerous: in 1999 a British jury acquitted a driver of dangerous driving for travelling at 145 mph on a motorway (as reported in The Times, 25 March 1999, p 13); and in 2000 a businessman travelling at 183 mph was cleared by a jury of causing death, of a pensioner crossing the road, through dangerous driving, and convicted only of careless driving (as reported in The Times, 16 June 2000, p 13).
29. Corbett et al, op cit, pp 37, 40, 45.
30. For instance, Clarke, R.V. (1996) The Distribution of Deviance and Exceeding the Speed Limit. British Journal of Criminology. Vol. 36, No. 2, pp 169.81.
31. For instance, Groombridge, N. (1993) The Car and Crime: Is Joyriding a Male Driving Disorder? Paper presented at a conference on Masculinity and Crime, Brunel University, September;
32. Webb, B. and Laycock, G. (1992) Tackling Car Crime: The Nature and Extent of the Problem. Home Office Crime Prevention Unit Paper No. 32. London: HMSO.
33. Sugg, D. (1998) Motor Projects in England and Wales: An Evaluation. Research Findings No. 81.
34. Home Office Research, Development and Statistics Directorate. London: HMSO.
35. For instance, Svenson, O. (1981). Are We All Less Risky and More Skilful than our Fellow Drivers? Acta Psychologica. Vol. 47, pp 143.8;
36. Corbett, C. and Simon, F. (1992) Unlawful Driving Behaviour: A Criminological Perspective. Contractor Report No. 310. Crowthorne: Transport Research Laboratory, p 41.
37. Corbett and Simon (1992) op cit, p 41.
38. Horswill, M. and McKenna, F. (1999) The Effect of Perceived Control on Risk-taking. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. Vol. 29, No. 2, pp 337.91.
39. Corbett et al, op cit, p 15.
40. Corbett and Simon (1992) op cit, pp 38.40. 25. Corbett et al, op cit, ch 3.
41. For instance, Sabey, B. (1991) Human Factors in Accidents. In proceedings of a conference on New Insights into Driver Behaviour. London: Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety, pp 47.52.
42. Svenson, op cit.
43. Simon and Corbett, op cit;
44. Corbett and Simon (1992) op cit, pp 38.40, 81.
45. Corbett and Simon (1992) op cit, p 18;
46. Simon, F. and Corbett, C. (1996) Road Traffic Offending, Stress, Age, and Accident History among Male and Female Drivers. Ergonomics. Vol. 39, No. 5, pp 757.80;
47. McKenna, F., Waylen, A. and Burkes, M. (1998) Male and Female Drivers: How Different Are They? Basingstoke: Automobile Association Foundation for Road Safety Research.
48. London Research Centre (1998) Women's Travel in London. London: LRC.
49. Marsh, P. and Collett, P. (1986) Driving Passion: The Psychology of the Car. London: Cape.
50. For instance, Matthews, G., Desmond, P., Joyner, L., Carcary, B. and Gilliland, K. (1997) A Comprehensive Questionnaire Measure of Driver Stress and Affect. In Rothengatter, T. and Carbonnell Vaya, E. (eds) Traffic and Transport Psychology. Oxford: Pergamon.
51. The complex subject of risk, including risk behaviour on the roads, is very ably illuminated.
52. Adams, J. (1995) Risk. London: UCL Press.
53. Which explores, inter alia, cultural factors in risk-taking and risk measurement, intersected by the human tendency to compensate for actual and perceived reductions in risk.
54. Gender differences, however, are not specifically addressed. How people compare the risks of possible harm arising from various activities is competently considered.
55. Fischoff, B., Lichtenstein, S., Slovic, P., Derby, S. and Keeney, R. (1981) Acceptable Risk. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
56. For instance, Clarkson, J. (2000) My Plan to Cut Congestion: Ban All the Bad Drivers. The Sunday Times, 14 May 2000, Motoring Section, p 28.
57. The Times (1999) Flash Cars for the Big Stars.
58. December, p 3.
59. The Times (1997) Sport Chasing TV Audience and New Addicts.
60. November, p 10.
61. Gibson, B. (1994) Crime and the Motor Car. Paper presented at a conference on Dealing with Traffic Offenders: Current Issues and Future Directions, Brunel University, November.
62. Emsley, C. (1997) The Regulation and Control of Motor Traffic in Britain. In Kellens, G. and Pérez-Diaz, C. (eds) Le Contrôle de la Circulation Routière dans les Pays de la CEE. Paris: L.Harmattan.
63. Lex Services plc (1997) The Lex Report on Motoring: Driving for Safety. London: Lex Services plc.
64. Social Attitudes to Road Traffic Risk in Europe 2, op cit, pp 68.70.
65. Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1999) Vehicle Speeds Great Britain 1998. London: Stationery Office.
66. Stradling, S. (2000) Driving as Part of Your Work May Damage Your Health. Paper presented at a seminar on Behavioural Studies, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, Esher, April.
67. Home Office (1998b) Reducing Offending: An Assessment of Research Evidence on Ways of Dealing with Offending Behaviour. Home Office Research Study No. 187. London: Home Office.
68. Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1998b) Transport Statistics 1997. London: TSO.
69. Lynn, P. and Lockwood, C.R. (1998) The Accident Liability of Company Car Drivers. Transport Research Laboratory Report No. 317. Crowthorne: TRL.
70. Stradling, op cit.
71. Corbett et al, op cit, p 29.
72. Pidgeon, N. (2000) Safety Culture: Transferring Theory and Evidence from the Major Hazard Industries. Paper presented at a seminar on Behavioural Studies, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, Esher, April.
73. The Sunday Times (1996) Drivers Rush for .Speed. Policies.
74. January, Money Section, p 1.
75. Box, S. (1989) Power, Crime and Mystification. 2nd edn. London: Tavistock.
76. Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (1998) Managing Occupational Road Risk. Birmingham: ROSPA, p 10.
77. A European Transport Safety Council report suggests that the situation generally in Europe is not dissimilar;
78. see ETSC (1999) Police Enforcement Strategies to Reduce Traffic Casualties in Europe. Brussels: ETSC, pp 13, 42.3.
79. Her Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary (1998) Road Policing and Traffic. HMIC Thematic Inspection Report. London: Home Office, p 19.
80. Corbett et al, op cit, p 33.
81. HMIC, op cit, p 17.
82. The 1999/2000 version of this strategy is available, for instance, in Jordan, P. (2000) Performance Indicators for the National Road Policing Strategy. London: Police Foundation.
83. HMIC, op cit, p 15.
84. Corbett, C. (1993) Discretion in Practice: Speed Limit Enforcement. In Grayson, G. (ed.) Behavioural Research in Road Safety III. Crowthorne: Transport Research Laboratory.
85. The Times (1999) Digital Cameras to Curb Speeding.
86. December, p 6.
87. HMIC, op cit.
88. Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (2000b) New Directions in Speed Management: A Review of Policy. London: DETR, p 18.
89. If detected by a speed camera, the driver is given a conditional offer of the standard fixed penalty which, if accepted, can only be processed if the driver is not otherwise liable for disqualification.
90. Corbett and Simon (1992) op cit, pp 55.7; Corbett et al, op cit, ch 4.
91. Corbett et al, op cit, ch. 4.
92. For example, The Daily Telegraph (1993) Unit Fines Abolished in Clarke U-turn.
93. May, pp 1.2; The Financial Times (1993) Clarke U-turn over Court Fines.
94. May, p 18.
95. Magistrates. Association (2000) Magistrates. Association Sentencing Guidelines. London: Magistrates. Association.
96. Magistrates. Association (1997) Magistrates. Association Sentencing Guidelines. London: Magistrates. Association.
97. In Holland at least, minor speed limit breaches are dealt with by post and are considered a breach of administrative rather than criminal law (as part of the .Lex Mulder.); and in Germany, motorways only have a recommended speed (130 mph) rather than a general speed limit;
98. see Social Attitudes to Road Traffic Risk in Europe 2, op cit, p 102.
99. The Independent (1999) Beckham Licensed to Speed Away from Paparazzi.
100. December, p 5; The Daily Mail (1999) Soccer Star Keeps His Licence After Speeding at 82 mph.
101. February, p 31.
102. In 1997, 91 per cent of disqualifications imposed for speeding were for less than six months.
103. See Home Office (1999) Offences Relating to Motor Vehicles England and Wales: Supplementary Tables. London: Home Office, Table 13.
104. European Transport Safety Council, op cit; Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (2000a) op cit. 76. BBC Radio 4 (1999) The Today programme, 14 September.
105. The Daily Mail (1999) Why do the Police Hate the Middle Classes? 15 September, p 4.
106. For instance, The Times (1999), 23 September, p 23.
107. The Sunday Times (1999) Motoring Madness.
108. September, p 16.
109. The Guardian (2000) Police Outline Leeway on Speeding.
110. February, p 5.
111. Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (2000b) op cit.
112. The Guardian (2000) Policy and Politics: Road Safety Moves Dismay Campaigners.
113. March, p 12.
114. The Daily Mail (1999) War on the Motorist.
115. November, p 1.
116. Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (2000b) op cit.
117. However, it should in fairness be pointed out that a blanket policy of reduced speed limits is not necessarily the answer to the speed problem, that a DETR research programme focusing on speed effects and speed choice continues, and that a Home Office Traffic Penalty Review is considering revised penalties for, inter alia, speeding offences.
118. Mitchell, M. (ed.) (1997) The Aftermath of Road Accidents. London: Routledge.
119. Green, J. (1997) The Social Construction of Accidents. London: UCL Press.
120. Howarth, G. (1997) Death on the Road: The Role of the English Coroner's Court in the Social Construction of an Accident. In Mitchell, op cit.
121. The Times (1998) Families of Road Victims Appalled by Clean-up Plan.
122. July, p 8.
123. The Guardian (1999) BMW to Invest £3.3bn in Rover over Six Years.
124. June, Business Section, p 21.
125. Mackie, A. (1998) Urban Speed Management Methods. Transport Research Laboratory Report No. 363. Crowthorne: TRL.
126. Brooks, I. (1999) Local Crime and Disorder Strategies and their Contributions to Reducing Casualties and Improving Road Safety. Paper presented to the Association of Chief Police Officers Traffic Committee.
127. Carsten, O. (1999) Can.t Go, Won.t Go. In proceedings of a conference on Speed: Whose Business Is It? London: Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety.
128. Corbett, C. and Simon, F. (1999) The Effects of Speed Cameras: How Drivers Respond. Road Safety Research Report No. 11. London: Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, ch 6.
129. Goldenbeld, C. (1997) Social Attitudes to Road Traffic Risk in Europe. Leischendam: SWOV.
130. Corbett, op cit.
131. Hooke, A., Knox, J. and Portas, D. (1996) Cost Benefit Analysis of Traffic Light and Speed Cameras. Police Research Series Paper 20, Police Research Group, London: Home Office.
132. The Times (1999), 20 December, p 6.
133. Shinar, D. and McKnight, A. (1985) The Effects of Enforcement and Public Information on Speed Compliance. In Evans, L. and Schwing, R. (eds) Human Behaviour and Traffic Safety. New York: Plenum Press.
134. Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (2000b) op cit, p 34.
135. Corbett and Simon (1999), op cit, p 94.
136. Prosecutions of drivers caught by camera could be dealt a blow by the full force of the Human Rights Act, due to become law in the UK in October 2000, when it will be impossible for drivers to incriminate themselves by revealing their identity as having been the driver on the occasion in question.
137. Brooks, op cit.
138. Ashton, S.J. and Mackay, G.M. (1979) Some Characteristics of the Population who Suffer Trauma as Pedestrians When Hit by Cars and Some Resulting Implications. Paper presented at the Fourth IRCOBI International Conference, Gothenberg; as reported in DETR (2000b) op cit.
139. Taylor et al, op cit.
140. For instance, Svenson, op cit.
141. Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (2000b) op cit, p 34.
142. Corbett et al, op cit, p 29.
143. For instance, Lynn and Lockwood, op cit.
144. For instance, nine per cent of drivers from 15 EU countries reported enjoying driving .very fast.;
145. see Social Attitudes to Road Traffic Risk in Europe 2, op cit, p 71.