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  • Stefan Machura
  • Sunita Matharu
  • Faye Mepham
    School of Psychology, Bangor University
  • Sarah Leanne Smith
  • Jonathan Aston
    School of Health Sciences, Bangor University
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.

Keywords

  • Legitimacy of law, driving under alcohol, driving under medication, imprudent behaviour, perceived risk
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages25
JournalOñati Socio-legal Series
Volume9
Issue number6
Early online date16 Sept 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2019

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