Supporting Government OAD Safety Policies

Road traffic violations remain a persistent issue despite the widespread implementation of driver licensing systems. While licensing is designed to ensure competence and promote compliance, violations continue to occur even among licensed drivers. This study aims to examine the underlying factors contributing to persistent traffic violations from a behavioural perspective. Using an abductive approach, this research draws on in-depth interviews with licensed drivers to explore how individuals interpret, justify, and enact non-compliant behaviour in real-world contexts. The analysis is informed by the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), while iteratively engaging with empirical findings to refine and extend existing theoretical explanations.  The findings reveal that compliance is not a stable or intention-driven behaviour, but rather a situational and context-dependent practice. Drivers engage in dynamic cognitive evaluations, balancing risk, urgency, and social expectations. Traffic violations are frequently normalised through collective behaviour, while enforcement presence plays a key role in shaping compliance. Furthermore, the licensing system is widely perceived as an administrative requirement, with limited impact on long-term behavioural change.  This study contributes to the literature by demonstrating that intention-based models such as TPB are insufficient to fully explain real-world driving behaviour. Instead, compliance should be understood as a negotiated outcome shaped by cognitive processes, social norms, situational pressures, and structural conditions. The findings highlight the need for more integrated road safety strategies that move beyond individual-level interventions to address systemic and social dimensions of driving behaviour.