Criminals on the road? An exploratory study of those convicted of causing death by dangerous driving in Taipei City, Taiwan, 2014−2018
| Author | Susyan Jou,Kah Kheng Goh,Bill Hebenton |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/14613557221138608 |
| Published date | 01 March 2023 |
| Date | 01 March 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Original Research Articles |
Criminals on the road? An exploratory
study of those convicted of causing death by
dangerous driving in Taipei City, Taiwan,
2014−2018
Susyan Jou
Graduate School of Criminology, National Taipei University, Taiwan
Kah Kheng Goh
Department of Psychiatry, Wan Fang Hospital, Taipei Medical University, Taiwan
Bill Hebenton
Department of Criminology, University of Manchester, UK
Abstract
Empirical research conducted in the USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand and parts of Europe has accumulated over the last
50 years and has identified links between mainstream crime (e.g. violence and acquisitive crime) and driving offences (e.g.
dangerous driving, drink driving, driving while disqualified). Put simply, international evidence reveals that a driver’s will-
ingness to commit driving offences tends to be associated with a willingness to commit other types of offence. Unlike the
Anglophone countries and Europe, no peer-reviewed published research in Greater China has considered this matter
empirically. Our article uses data from a data set (n=368) of those convicted of causing death by dangerous driving
over a 4-year period (2014 −2018) in Taipei City, capital of Taiwan, to examine associations with prior criminal history
and criminal versatility in this sample of convicted drivers. Our analysis indicates the following results: the Taiwanese sam-
ple of serious driving offenders had a somewhat low prevalence of prior conviction –over 70% had no prior conviction
record. None of the measures used provides evidence for any significant ‘versatility’on the part of drivers convicted of
serious driving offences. Further studies in Taiwan scrutinizing patterns in driving and mainstream criminal offences are
needed, as are more nuanced analyses of the versatility of offending. Our article makes recommendations for further
research in Taiwan.
Keywords
Taiwan, offending, driving, specialization, versatility
Submitted 6 May 2022, Revise received 20 Sep 2022, accepted 4 Oct 2022
Introduction
There exists a growing literature concerned with what one
may colloquially term ‘criminals on the road’. The pub-
lished empirical studies draw upon research by three
groups: transport policy researchers seeking to advance
Corresponding author:
Bill Hebenton, Department of Criminology, School of Social Sciences,
University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
Email: bill.hebenton@manchester.ac.uk
Original Research Article
International Journal of
Police Science & Management
2023, Vol. 25(1) 96–105
© The Author(s) 2022
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DOI: 10.1177/14613557221138608
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