To Speed or Not to Speed: Applying Situational Action Theory to Speeding Behavior

ABSTRACT

Despite ongoing research, there is still a lack of consensus as to the causes of speeding behavior – resulting in a continued loss of life due to missed opportunities. Using interview data gathered from six Australian drivers, this study aims to help address this problem by applying a new perspective offered by Situational Action Theory (SAT). Specifically, this study adopts a qualitative case study approach to examine the differential responses to motivations to speed via SAT’s situational model and associated principles. Findings indicate strong support for SAT’s situational model in explaining the speeding behavior of those interviewed. Most notably, this study provides support for the largely unexamined habitual pathway proposed by the theory, in that those drivers acting habitually appeared to give no consideration as to the possibility of detection, with controls only becoming particularly relevant for those who deliberated.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Professor Barry Watson, Associate Professor Angela Watson, and Dr Beth Hardie for their feedback on the interview schedule. Special thanks go to Dr Beth Hardie for discussions and guidance regarding SAT’s situational model. I would also like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their comments, especially reviewer 2 for their comments regarding neutralization techniques and their role within SAT. This research was supported by the Australian Government funded Research Training Program Scholarship.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The work was supported by the Australian Government [].

Notes on contributors

Chae Rose

Chae Rose is a PhD student at the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland at the Queensland University of Technology. His current research focuses on applying Situational Action Theory to the field of road safety to effectively integrate personal- and environmental-oriented explanations of offender driving behavior.