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Basic Defensive Driving Tips Part 1 |
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Written by Jerry Malcolm
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There are a lot of situations that you find yourself when you drive regularly on the roads and highways of this country. Many of us have been in situations where a crisis seems to be spiraling out of control around us and that terror sets in that there is no escape. Or that moment when you anger another driver and feel anger back at him or her. The road rage that can take place while both drivers are operating very dangerous machines moving at high rates of speed is a situation of tremendous danger.
When you are in the middle of a frightening traffic situation, your first thought is, "How do I get out of this?" In fact, there are driving skills that can help get out of tough situations like those. But there are a more important set of driving skills that we all should learn designed to keep us from ever getting in those situations in the first place. Those skills are categorized under the umbrella of "defensive driving training". That is why it is critical that anyone who will face the regular challenges of operating a motor vehicle on the public roads must learn defensive driving skills
There is no substitute for a comprehensive defensive driving course. But to lay the groundwork for the skills you must learn to maintain control over your driving life, let's discuss the basic defensive driving tips that will become a way of life for you as defensive driving becomes the only way you go about handling road situations you will face.
Defensive Driving Tip Number One - Driving is Not a Sport
There is an attitude that goes with defensive driving that is opposite the way most people drive. There seems to be a natural attitude people get that driving is a competition and a game. And if someone offends you on the road, it seems that you must "get them back". That attitude is one that is loaded with ways that you can make a critical and even fatal driving mistake.
There is no room for egos, competition or "getting offended" when you are driving. When someone commits a traffic offense like cutting you off or driving in a rude way, the best response is to get away from that driver because he or she is on a short path toward an accident. Don't try to race people who are passing you or prove yourself by your driving. Put all of those games behind you.
When you get in the car, you have one goal and that is to get where you are going safely. They say that the best revenge is living well. On the road, if someone makes you mad, the best defense is to let it go and get away from the competitive or angry drivers that are out there. You arrive safely where you are going and you did so without trying to prove yourself to anyone.
Defensive Driving Tip Number Two - Where to be in an Accident
There is only one place you should want to be if a traffic accident or a potentially dangerous driving situation arises and that is anywhere else. The cornerstone of the philosophy of defensive driving is finding ways to get out of trouble and stay out of trouble. That means if there is someone on the road driving erratically, driving too slowly or driving aggressively, your number one objective is to get away from that person.
Often just slowing down and letting an emotional driver go around you removes you from the focus of a dangerous driver. Even if that aggressive driver honks his or her horn at you, do not let that alter your defensive driving training. A horn is not dangerous. Simply ignore it and get out of their way so you can drive safely far away from them.
Defensive Driving Tip Number Three - Who Do Your Trust?
When you are driving, you are in many ways putting your life in the hands of hundreds of people you share the road with. You have no idea if the others who are on the road with you are good drivers, having a bad day or on some kind of medication, drugs or alcohol. But still we trust those drivers to know how to handle the complicated task of driving.
Good defensive driving skills calls for you to change that outlook on your fellow man. The answer to the question, "Who do your trust?" is nobody. That doesn’t mean that you drive in a paranoid sort of way. But it means you watch the other drivers with a virtual expectation that they might do the wrong thing. You watch people as they approach the intersection you must use to assure that they really will stop at that red light. You watch people in other lanes not assuming that they know they should not cross that lane and hit your car.
Trusting no one simply means you never make any assumptions about what the other driver might do. But once you confirm that the other driver is trustworthy at least for that moment, you are free to proceed safely because you took it on yourself to pay attention and drive defensively.
Defensive Driving Tip Number Four - Focus, Focus, Focus
From the moment that you start the car to when you park it at your destination, your focus should be on the road, your vehicle and what is going on around you. Good defensive driving calls for a 360-degree awareness of your environment so that nothing can catch you by surprise. Just like you never assume the other drivers are safe drivers, you never assume that nothing will happen from the shoulder, the sidewalk or from anywhere else near where you are driving.
Awareness also means you eliminate distractions inside the car. That means no cell phones, not texting and you cut down on the amount of distractions that your passengers create within the car. It takes some discipline but if you have good defensive driving skills and good powers of focus and observations, you can see hazards and dangerous situations beginning to occur long before you get into them and take evasive action to stay out of trouble wherever it happens around you.
We have just begun our examination of the top tips for how to successfully use your defensive driving skills. So let's keep going by going on with the rest of our tips in the next article, Basic Defensive Driving Tips Part 2
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