Understanding Speeding in School Zones in Malaysia and Australia Using an Extended Theory of Planned Behaviour: The Potential Role of Mindfulness

Speeding in school zones is a problem in both Malaysia and Australia. While there are differences between the countries in terms of school zone treatments and more generally, these differences do not explain why people choose to speed in school zones. Because speeding is usually an intentional behaviour, the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) has been used to understand speeding and develop interventions; however, it has limitations that can be addressed by extending the model to incorporate other constructs. One promising construct is mindfulness, which can improve the explanatory value of the TPB by taking into account unintentional speeding attributable to a lack of focus on important elements of the driving environment. We explain what mindfulness is (and is not), how it can assist in providing a better understanding of speeding in school zones, and how it can contribute to the development of interventions. We then outline a program of research that has been commenced, investigating the contribution of mindfulness to an understanding of speed choice in school zones in two different settings (Australia and Malaysia) using the TPB.

[1]  Jack Demick.  Toward a Mindful Psychological Science: Theory and Application , 2000 .

[2]  P. Sheeran.  Intention—Behavior Relations: A Conceptual and Empirical Review , 2002 .

[3]  I. Ajzen.  The theory of planned behavior , 1991 .

[4]  Stefan Schmidt,et al.  Measuring mindfulness—the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI) , 2006 .

[5]  M. Elliott,et al.  Drivers' compliance with speed limits: an application of the theory of planned behavior. , 2003, The Journal of applied psychology.

[6]  Sonja Forward,et al.  An assessment of what motivates road violations , 2009 .

[7]  M. Conner,et al.  The Theory of Planned Behaviour , 2004 .

[8]  T Radalj.  Driver speed compliance within school zones and effects of "40" painted speed limit on driver speed behaviours , 2002 .

[9]  Lars Åberg,et al.  Drivers’ beliefs about exceeding the speed limits , 2008 .

[10]  Mark A. Elliott,et al.  Exploring the beliefs underpinning drivers’ intentions to comply with speed limits , 2005 .

[11]  Rubén D Ledesma,et al.  Individual Differences in Driver Inattention: The Attention-Related Driving Errors Scale , 2010, Traffic injury prevention.

[12]  Z. Segal,et al.  The Toronto Mindfulness Scale: development and validation. , 2006, Journal of clinical psychology.

[13]  S. Forward.  The theory of planned behaviour: The role of descriptive norms and past behaviour in the prediction of drivers’ intentions to violate , 2009 .

[14]  D. Cross,et al.  Child pedestrian safety: the role of behavioural science , 2005, The Medical journal of Australia.

[15]  Gregory T. Smith,et al.  Assessment of Mindfulness by Self-Report , 2004, Assessment.

[16]  James S. Baxter,et al.  Intention to commit driving violations: An application of the theory of planned behavior. , 1992 .

[17]  Mark A Elliott,et al.  Using the theory of planned behaviour to predict observed driving behaviour. , 2007, The British journal of social psychology.

[18]  Lars Åberg,et al.  Drivers’ decision to speed: A study inspired by the theory of planned behavior , 2006 .

[19]  Stephan Van den Broucke,et al.  Measuring cognitive determinants of speeding: An application of the theory of planned behaviour , 2008 .

[20]  Timo Lajunen,et al.  Cross-cultural differences in drivers' speed choice. , 2009, Accident; analysis and prevention.

[21]  R. Ryan,et al.  The benefits of being present: mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. , 2003, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[22]  Mark J. King,et al.  Are you a mindful driver? A review of the potential explanatory value of mindfulness in predicting speeding behaviour , 2010 .