Editorial: attitudes can be altered

Photo: Eero Vabamägi

With Estonia recently shocked by three young lives lost in a wrecked car driven by fourth youngster, we ought to think deep about the sickening speeding recorded this past weekend. 

And add the fool who bragged over Internet about having driven over 200 km/h. Is it hopeless or are we doing something totally and absolutely wrong?

It got outright chaotic before the Weekend Baltic music festival in Pärnu. In a few hours on Tallinn-Pärnu Highway, the police caught over a hundred people speeding.

Remarkably, lion’s share exceeded the limit by 21–40 kilometres an hour, while over a fourth  went more than 40 km/h faster that allowed.

While the instruction about traffic manners must begin in childhood, by personal example of parents, in teenage years the problem nowadays takes on a whole new dimension.

Enter social media.

Writing in Postimees in July, psychologist Kätlin Konstabel wrote on the consideration in young minds: on the one hand, an obscure option to get killed. On the other, the chance to be admired by thousands, maybe millions... by one daredevil act.

So maybe we have exhausted the lecturing about «traffic culture». Why not rather listen to the scientists and researchers, able to analyse the risk behaviour of the youth of today.