Citation

Smith I, Maisey G. Road Transp. Res. 1992; 1(1): 88-102.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1992, Australian Road Research Board)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The aim was to determine the extent of driving by persons whose driver's licenses were disqualified or suspended. Completed questionnaires were received from 1313 of 3404 drivers. More than one-third of the respondents admitted to driving at least once while under disqualification. For work purposes, 15.7 per cent drove from one to five times, 8.9 per cent from six to 99 times, and 8.8 per cent drove 100 times or more. For family and social activities the figures were 20.7 per cent, 6.6 per cent, and 4.9 per cent respectively. Consistent with previous research, people who drove while disqualified generally indicated they drove as little as possible or in a safe, law abiding manner. Some 85.2 per cent of the respondents approved of license disqualification for serious offenses, and 60.1 per cent of the drivers considered their own license disqualification was fair. Persons with one or more previous disqualifications were especially likely to drive while disqualified, to take steps to avoid the police catching them and not to carry their license when driving. Drivers who had, or would be obtaining a photographic driver's license, had more favourable attitudes towards traffic safety and were less likely to drive while disqualified than drivers who did not support photographic driver's licenses. Similar findings applied to drivers who usually carried their license when driving. With respect to extra-ordinary licenses, 28.8 per cent of the respondents who obtained such a license admitted driving outside the conditions of their license. A number of proposals to reduce the problem of unlicensed driving are discussed.

Language: en