NCJ Number
73884
Date Published
1979
Length
10 pages
Annotation
A survey was conducted in the Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan to measure the perceived level of seriousness of traffic offenses in which alcohol was involved and to compare it with perceptions of other traffic offenses.
Abstract
A 40-item survey questionnaire was administered to 2,771 subjects containing groups of nondrivers, drivers, drivers suspended for long and for short terms, and police officers. Half the subjects were asked to rate 40 traffic offenses by magnitude scale compared with a standard offense of 'driving without a license'. The remaining subjects rated all 40 traffic offenses according to degree of seriousness. Results showed that the level of seriousness of offenses varied according to the nature of the offenses; the seriousness of offenses related to drinking tended to increase according to the amount and type of drinks, as well as the time lapse between drinking and driving. Serious alcohol-related offenses, such as 'driving a car after seven drinks of whiskey', received scores nearly identical to other seriously rated traffic offenses, such as 'disobeying a warning signal at a railroad crossing'. No significant differences were found among subject groups or by age on serious alcohol-related offenses. However, speeding offenses were rated lower by the younger age group; in conformity with their professional attitudes, police officers rated traffic offenses high compared with the groups. Because ratings of types of offenses are affected by intuitive moral judgments, attitudes toward minor traffic offenses require further study. However, study findings do suggest a difference between people's attitudes and their behavior after drinking alcohol. Five figures and four references are provided. An appendix lists standard scores obtained for each of 40 offenses by the 5 experimental subject groups.