Unless you are engaged in active criminality and realise you are running the risk of severe-ish penalties I don't think fear comes into it.
I suspect that most people simply consent to be regulated regarding their routine (non-criminal) activities even if they don't always agree with the regulations or stick to them rigidly, since they recognise that some form of regulation is useful and practical even if not perfect, such as those involving traffic.
Yes, your post seems the most measured response. But I think fear does come into it.
Different sorts of fear.
I think we are conditioned from birth with a lot of it, some people more than others.
It's like with driving, we all stick to most of the rules of the road,most of the time.
However drink/driving is something they have used fear over.
Think of the awful adverts of car crashes and peoples death and the drunken drivers responsibility..............
That's making us afraid, that if we drink and drive, we will cause that.
It's still fear, and those adverts were horrible.
The other one is the mobile where the person at home talking to the driver suddenly gets cut off because the driver has had a serious accident, another advert where fear is used.
That one plays on the fear of us being instrumental in causing the death of someone we love.
I find that one harrowing.
That's two ways the law puts fear into us, to obey the law.
There are lots more.
Can you see?