Defensive driving is a method of driving used to prevent accidents by proactively anticipating potential threats. Avoiding accidents is always better than reacting to them, so we recommend that all drivers learn and practice defensive driving. It can save your life!
After all, having the best anti-lock brakes and the most sophisticated air bags is great, but it’s far better not to need to use them in the first place.
- Defensive driving can save your life by helping you avoid some very common accident types. Here are just a few of the top ways that defensive driving can help you on the road.
- Keeping an eye on other drivers keeps you from crashing into them. Simply paying attention to what’s going on in the cars around you is one of the biggest ways defensive driving can save your life. If you’re aware of the road, you’re not going to be taken by surprise if someone merges unexpectedly or brakes sharply. Keeping your head up and your senses alert improves reaction time and reduces the likelihood of a crash.
- You’re better able to expect the unexpected. Drunk drivers? Tire blowouts? Defensive driving’s emphasis on looking around you and being on the alert for potential trouble often means that you can see minor details that indicate a coming accident before it happens.
Slower speeds result in fewer accidents. Driving twenty over on a highway is one of the most dangerous things the average person does in their daily life. If you’re going to hurtle down a highway in a two-ton steel box, it’s much less dangerous when you’re following the speed limit. - Maintaining a proper following distance prevents life threatening collisions. If you increase the following room between your car and the one in front of you, you’re dramatically reducing the chance that you’ll run into the car in front of you if something goes wrong in your vehicle or if someone hits you from behind. Leaving enough space to react prevents these accidents, which often result in life-changing head wounds.
- Defensive driving combats weather hazards. Weather related accidents result in higher crash rates on the roads, but decelerating, leaving more following room, and keeping an eye out for vehicles that are out of control can save your life in adverse weather conditions.
- Staying distraction free keeps you from zoning out. You can’t drive defensively and drive distractedly at the same time. If you’re watching the road, you’re not going to be texting or adjusting the settings on your speakers or eating messy food, because you need your full attention on what you’re doing.
Though defensive driving can increase your life expectancy through careful and cautious driving, remember that it also helps keep others around you safe. One attentive driver can be the difference between a simple fender bender and a five car pileup, so your actions and safe driving can have a real impact on the community you live and work in.
Don’t waste more of your time and make an intelligent move. Barzakay Law Firm will fight for you and give you the compensation you deserve. Contact us.
Drive safe, drive defensively.