How to be Proficient With Defensive Driving?

When you want to perform defensive driving, it is important for you to know about the basic rules. The chance of accident can be reduced by up to 90 percent when you perform defensive driving. Here are things that you should consider:

• Pay attention: If you want to drive defensively, it is often about paying attention and having total focus on what you do. It will be very dangerous if you drive while using smartphones. When you split your attention, you may drive on autopilot. You need to avoid things that can cause your response rate to become impaired. In reality, our brain is bad at multitasking. When we multitask, we actually switch between multiple tasks very quickly. If you multitask when driving, there will be a moment when you are not actually driving, which can be very risky when you are driving at high speed. It is important for you not to daydream and you should focus your attention on the road ahead. When you talk to a passenger, you may avert your eyes and attention for a couple of seconds. When this happens, you may put your live in a real danger.
• Form good driving habits: You can’t drive defensively if you don’t have good driving habits. You should be entirely alert and aware of the surrounding conditions when you are driving. If you are hungry, it is a good idea to stop and rest. If possible, you shouldn’t drive while driving. You need to pull over and rest if you are completely tired. Whatever you do, you shouldn’t gamble your life. Long distance driving can be quite hypnotic and some people actually doze off while driving.
• Maintain a good distance: Many people habitually tailgate by following too closely the car in front of them. Tailgating is risk factor that can cause accidents to happen. When rear-end collision happens, the fault will fall on the car on the rear, even if the car in the front stops abruptly. Any driver is expected to maintain a safe distance and it’s a common practice. The two-second rule is a good way to maintain safe distance. It means that if the car in front of you suddenly stops, you have two seconds before you hit it. In highways, you may need to maintain a 5 second leeway, due to the higher speeds. Of course, you need to make sure that your car has fully working brake. If it takes more time for your car to stop, you need to keep a longer distance.
• Don’t drive too fast: When you drive too fast, you simply increase the risks of accidents. Bad road conditions could also increase the risks of accidents. By being sensible, it will be much faster for you to stop the car and you can immediately avoid a crash. Inertia can be your enemy, because the car will resist the attempt to stop. It’s a basic law of physics and there’s no way you can change that. It is a good way to keep pace with the traffic and if possible, you should always choose slower lanes. If you want to change lane, you need to do it slowly. If you weave in and out, there’s a much bigger chance of an accident.