Özet:

Objective: Based on psychological deterrence and learning theory, traffic enforcement aims to secure full compliance to the traffic laws and regulations. This study aims to examine the effects of traffic enforcement, and tickets (fines) issued for violations, number of traffic crashes, injuries and fatalities in Turkey. Methods: Data included the records of enforcement, tickets, and various outcomes of traffic accidents from 81 Turkish Providences for the years between 2008 and 2012. First, the indicators of traffic safety consisting of the number of enforcement acts, tickets issued, accidents, injuries, and fatalities per 100.000 vehicles were calculated, and then the correlations between the major variables were examined. Results: Of the traffic safety indicators, the number of tickets issued for violations had stronger effects than the number of enforcements on traffic safety. Enforcements targeting driving under the influence of alcohol had the highest number of significant correlations with the indicators of traffic safety. Enforcement for the speed limits and seat belt were also effective in decreasing traffic fatalities and crashes. Overall, the magnitude of significant correlations was around -0,30, suggesting that enforcement and/or tickets reduce the accident risk by about 10% in Turkey. Conclusion: Both overall and year-by-year analyses demonstrated that the number of enforcements and tickets issued were significantly and negatively correlated with various indicators of road crashes. Key words: Traffic accidents, traffic safety, effectiveness of enforcement, violation tickets

Anahtar Kelimeler: