Selfishness is the root cause of bad driving habits, says our senior writer.
Selfishness is the root cause of bad driving habits, says our senior writer.
SINGAPOREAN motorists like to complain that their fellow countrymen are the worst drivers in the world. If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone lament our low driving standards, my dream cars would already be in my garage.
Fines and demerit points are used to keep local motorists in line. Cabbies I’ve chatted with insist that more driver training is required. Some motorists have even laid the blame on driving instructors. I’ve also heard people say that the minimum driving age should be raised from 18 to 21.
None of these suggestions, however, is going to raise our driving standards – because bad driving habits are caused by selfishness.
It is human nature for a person to only care about himself. We only ever want what is convenient for us. Who cares about others?
Selfishness is demonstrated every time a driver cuts you off because he refuses to join that long queue of vehicles. When you see a parent holding her child in her lap instead of securing the kid in a child seat, that’s a parent more concerned with herself than the safety of her offspring.
In my opinion, the only way to eradicate poor driving is to address the selfishness issue.
You can train someone till he’s as good as a racecar driver, but he’ll be downright dangerous because he’ll have amazing skills and no qualms about endangering others.
If we focus on making drivers understand (and practise) patience and empathy, we might have a nation of motorists who have excellent situational awareness because they’d be genuinely concerned about their fellow road users. This would make driving in Singapore joyful instead of stressful.
JEREMY KNOWS THAT ERADICATING SELFISHNESS ON THE ROAD IS WISHFUL THINKING, BUT HE BELIEVES THAT THE FIRST STEP TO ACHIEVING SOMETHING IS TO DREAM ABOUT IT FIRST.
