According to statistics, 15% of all drivers are responsible for 50% of all accidents. This might be because their morals are not fully developed or because they have negative personality traits.

Moral Development

Moral development can be divided into three stages:

In the first stage, egoism is very strong. Small children are often more concerned with satisfying their own needs than being considerate for others or following the rules.

In the second stage, you begin to accept society and its obligations. You follow the rules that you are obliged to follow, but without helping to improve society.

In the third stage, you realise the importance of helping out and contributing to society. You begin showing consideration to others, you follow the rules and you help to make society better.

In general, we mature as we get older, but different people mature at different rates. Some people remain in the first or second stages of moral development throughout their entire lives.

Moral development plays a significant role on the roads. It is important to be considerate and follow the rules in order for everything to work as it should. If you only try to meet your own needs and ignore the rules, you can expose yourself and others to danger. This can even lead to you being fined or losing your driving licence.

Negative Personality Traits

Excuses

We often do not want to come across as bad or admit that we have made a mistake. We therefore often try and come up with excuses which place the blame elsewhere.

If it is “never your fault” and you always pass the blame, then you lose the opportunity to learn from your mistakes. Instead, try to objectively examine yourself as a driver and analyse what you have done wrong. Ask yourself: What did I do wrong? Could I have prevented what happened? What should I do the next time I am in a similar situation?

Prestige-mindedness

Prestige-mindedness is all about pride. A person who is prestige- minded always has to be the greatest and the best. If a prestige- minded person is overtaken, they may feel that their pride has been damaged and consequently take risks in order to catch up with the driver that overtook them.

Impulsiveness

People who are impulsive act first and think later. These people can often be very dangerous on the roads as they are unpredictable and often surprise other drivers.

Repression

Repression is when unpleasant thoughts are ignored. This can be dangerous on the road as drivers ignore dangers and risks that are in fact present. This can lead them to drive fast even though there are slippery road conditions, for example.