Obedience vs. Judgment

When I read in the newspaper that road accidents are among the leading causes of death in Jordan, I remembered a discussion that I had had with a Jordanian some time ago. One comment he made has stayed with me, “If a European is walking after midnight and there are no cars on the road at all, he would stop at a red light and wait until it turned green before crossing the street!” I felt his remark showed disdain for the law-abiding attitude of ‘foreigners,’ and also he was hinting that his sense of judgment was better than the European’s. He would cross the street without waiting for the light to change. This is a bit of silliness of course, but it does pose an interesting question

How much does a driver’s attitude affect accidents? Some drivers choose to overtake another car recklessly, operate their vehicles with mechanical problems, be distracted by mobiles, switch lanes without signaling, tailgate, weave in and out of traffic, and speed just because the road ahead is open. If they do this believing their judgment is superior to good driving rules and existing traffic laws, they are wrong and the statistics prove it.

ASH