ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Future Transp.
Sec. Transport Safety
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/ffutr.2025.1671565
Why Drivers Refuse to Yield: Power of Neutralization over Deterrence in Chinese Urban Cross-walks
Provisionally accepted
- 1Hubei University of Police, Wuhan, China
- 2Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China
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Understanding the mechanisms behind drivers' yielding behavior to pedestrians is critical for improving urban road safety. Although deterrence-based interventions (e.g., penalties) have been widely implemented, drivers' psychological strategies to justify non-compliance remain underexplored. This study integrates neutralization theory and deterrence theory to investigate drivers' decision-making processes regarding pedestrian yielding. Drawing on survey data from 400 licensed drivers in Wuhan, China, a structural equation model (SEM) was developed to assess the dual effects of neutralization techniques and deterrence methods on yielding intentions. The results reveal that drivers' yielding intention is strongly negative influenced by three neutralization techniques: 'denial of injury', 'denial of victim' and 'defense of necessity'. Conversely, yielding intention is strongly positively influenced by two deterrence methods: formal sanction and shame. Overall, the negative impact of neutralization techniques substantially outweighs the positive influence of deterrence methods. Specifically, the neutralization technique of "denial of victim," wherein pedestrians cross disorderly and slowly, is the strongest factor reducing yielding intentions. In contrast, deterrence mechanisms, including formal sanctions and shame-based sanctions, show moderate effects, with drivers exhibiting greater sensitivity to license-related penalties than to fines. These findings contribute to the theoretical understanding of pedestrians' behavior for refusing to yield. They challenge the overreliance on punitive measures in traffic governance and highlight the need to address drivers' moral disengagement mechanisms.
Keywords: Traffic Safety, yield to pedestrians, Structural equation model(SEM), neutralization theory, Deterrence Theory
Received: 30 Jul 2025; Accepted: 26 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yin, Ding, Zhang, Shao and Tang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jinrui Zhang, jr_zhang008@163.com
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