Definition: Defensive driving is a driving strategy that involves adopting a preventive and proactive attitude to detect and anticipate potential risk situations.
Why is it essential to road safety? How can you become a defensive driver? Learning to anticipate dangerous situations and to react safely and effectively is essential to driving well and minimizing risk situations.
Aspects of defensive driving: observe and adapt to the behavior of other drivers, assume others may have a lack of skill, maintain a safe following distance, detect aspects of your own condition that may impede your ability to drive well and be prepared to respond effectively to highway conditions.
Always be aware, be patient and never be aggressive at the wheel; these are some of the key attitudes that will help protect your safety and the safety of those travelling with you.
Why is defensive driving important?
The facts
In Mexico, road accidents are the tenth overall cause of death, or the seventh if we consider the World Health Organization (WHO) statistics. Between the ages of 5 and 34, it is the second cause of death. According to figures compiled by the National Alliance for Road Safety (ANASEVI, Spanish acronym), in 2021 alone, over 366,000 traffic accidents were reported on the highways in the country’s urban areas, resulting in 14,548 deaths.
Defensive Driving Techniques
These simple techniques help prevent accidents and are a way to drive more safely.
- Pay attention to the actions of others: Always be thinking that other users, drivers or pedestrians can make mistake Be aware that they can make a mistake at any time. Never assume that they will act the way you would.
- Keep your distance: Maintain a safe space from other vehicles, as this will allow you time to react to unexpected movements by other drivers. The recommendation is to maintain a space of at least two seconds between your vehicle and the vehicle in front of you.
- Communicate: It is very important that the users around you are aware what your next movements will be. Use your signal lights and hazard lights, flash your lights, make visual contact, etc. The more communication you have with others, the more predictable your reactions and movements will be.
- Anticipate: Try to anticipate what the other drivers may do, as this will allow you to predict and be prepared for potential unsafe maneuvers by others and to react in time if there is danger.
- Limit distractions: Distractions at the wheel can be fatal. Avoid using your cell phone, both for calls and for sending texts or checking social media, Keep your focus on the road. The priority is driving the vehicle.
- Take care with blind spots: All vehicles have them. This is the exact spot where a vehicle that is beside you cannot be seen in the vehicle’s mirrors. It is important to take special care with bicycles and motorcycles. The opposite is also true. Take care to never stay in the blind spot of other vehicles, particularly if they are larger vehicles, like trucks or busses.
- Control your emotions: Stress, tiredness, or a problem you are facing may trigger negative emotions that drivers need to be able to control. If another driver made a mistake or you observe they are driving rashly, never react or try to teach them a lesson. You may regret it. The best thing to do is to move yourself away as quickly as possible from their reach. Nothing good can come from a confrontation between drivers.
- Perform periodic maintenance on your car: Having your car in good condition is an important step towards safety, since sometimes errors that occur on the roadway do not occur due to driver error, but due to issues with the vehicles.
7 practical tips for effective defensive driving
Follow these tips:
- Concentrate on driving, always look ahead and scan everything in your line of sight, not just what is in front of you.
- Keep your hands in the 9 and 3 position on the steering wheel for optimal control. (Graphic needed to divide a steering wheel as though it were a clock with the 12 at the top, 6 at the bottom, 3 at the east and 9 at the west)
- Take regular breaks during long trips to avoid fatigue and stress.
- Take note of potential dangers on the road, like potholes, construction work, accidents.
- Consider the weather conditions of the entire route you will be travelling.
- Leave on time for your destination, as speeding is the most common aggressive driving behavior. If someone is behaving this way, move away safely and let them pass.
- Respect the traffic signs.
Benefits of Defensive Driving
Defensive driving not only helps maintain safety, but also can save you money. Road accidents can have a high cost, both in material damage and in fines.
Another benefit may be improving gas expense efficiency. Driving behavior that is calmer and more predictable can reduce the amount of fuel the vehicle uses. Aggressive driving in urban traffic (where short advances and sudden accelerations predominate) does not alter the average speed, but does generate an increase in gas consumption of up to 60%.
If you make sure to anticipate risky behavior by other drivers and passers-by and avoid distractions yourself, you will be able to achieve the maximum reduction in your exposure to danger and you will be more alert, and it will also allow you to minimize the potential risks that may be caused by road infrastructure or the vehicle.
At Fundación Aleatica para la Seguridad Vial, we are convinced that We Are All Road Safety, and that is why we have committed to the goals of the Second Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030, to contribute towards halving the number of deaths and serious injuries caused by road accidents.
