Understanding Moral Justifications for Traffic Violations in Türkiye

Despite the widespread presence of traffic laws and the imposition of sanctions for violations, noncompliance (e.g., overspeeding) remains a major factor contributing to accidents and fatalities on the roads. Understanding the underlying reasons that lead drivers to violate traffic regulations is essential. The research focuses on the moral reasoning strategies that support such violations, along with their relationships with a range of psychological factors among Turkish-speaking drivers. In total, 261 (132 males, 127 females, two participants chose not to report; Mage = 37.46, SDage = 9.29) drivers participated in the current study. This study’s findings on how Turkish-speaking drivers legitimize traffic violations (i.e., moral disengagement) and related variables, as well as the adaptation of two scales (i.e., Driving Moral Disengagement Scale and Justifications of Traffic Violations Scale) into Turkish, indicate that both scales are valid and reliable tools in this context. Additionally, the findings indicated that legitimizing traffic violations was positively correlated with driver anger expression, driving anger, moral disengagement, and aggressive violations, while negatively associated with age, driving experience, and adaptive/constructive anger expression. This paper offers important insights into the factors influencing moral disengagement among Turkish driving context. These results can guide and inform future research efforts aimed at addressing existing gaps and enhancing road safety.