What Keeps Students from Driving under the Influence of Alcohol and Prescription Drugs? The Impact of Legitimacy of the Law, Prudent Behaviour and Perceived Dangerousness

Authors

  • Stefan Machura Bangor University
  • Sunita Matharu
  • Faye Mepham
  • Sarah Leanne Smith
  • Jonathan Aston

Keywords:

Legitimacy of law, driving under alcohol, driving under medication, perceived risk, imprudent behaviour, Legitimidad de la ley, conducir bajo los efectos del alcohol, conducir bajo los efectos de medicamentos, riesgo percibido, comportamiento imprudente

Abstract

Driving under alcohol or while under the influence of a medication that impedes the ability to control a car are punishable offenses. The study asks if the perceived legitimacy of law, the perceived dangers of driving, including detection by the police, and the individual inclination to engage in risky and imprudent behaviour influence the likelihood of committing those offenses. At a British university, 337 students took part in a questionnaire study. The results show that students are less inclined to drive under alcohol than under medication. Both are variously influenced by practical circumstances like the frequency of driving, of drinking and the actual taking of such medication, even pressures to drive regardless. Driving under medication is also related to legitimacy of law. The difference may come from the absence of a public narrative for driving under medication: some students fall back to their attitude to the law.

Conducir bajo los efectos del alcohol o de algún medicamento que obstaculice la capacidad de conducir un automóvil son delitos punibles. Este estudio se pregunta si la legitimidad percibida de la ley, los peligros percibidos de conducir (incluida la detección por parte de la policía) y la inclinación a mantener conductas arriesgadas e imprudentes influyen en la probabilidad de cometer dichos delitos. En una universidad británica, 337 estudiantes respondieron en un cuestionario. Los resultados muestran que los estudiantes son menos propensos a conducir bajo los efectos del alcohol que de medicamentos. Ambos casos están influidos por circunstancias prácticas, como la frecuencia de la conducción, de beber y de tomar dicho medicamento, incluso presiones para conducir en cualquier caso. Conducir bajo los efectos de medicamentos está relacionado con la legitimidad de la ley. La diferencia puede radicar en la ausencia de una narrativa pública sobre conducir bajo los efectos de medicamentos: algunos estudiantes se amparan en su actitud hacia la ley.

Available from: https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1076

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Author Biography

Stefan Machura, Bangor University

Stefan Machura is Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the School of History, Philosophy and Social Sciences, Bangor University, UK. ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7619-2529

Sunita Matharu, Sarah Leanne Smith and Jonathan Aston took part in the MA module “Applied Social Research”, Faye Mepham as undergraduate student intern.


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Published

16-01-2019

How to Cite

Machura, S., Matharu, S., Mepham, F., Smith, S. L. and Aston, J. (2019) “What Keeps Students from Driving under the Influence of Alcohol and Prescription Drugs? The Impact of Legitimacy of the Law, Prudent Behaviour and Perceived Dangerousness”, Oñati Socio-Legal Series, 9(6), pp. 1052–1077. Available at: https://opo.iisj.net/index.php/osls/article/view/1112 (Accessed: 28 March 2024).