What is Defensive Driving?
Defensive driving is the method of driving intended to save lives, energy, time and money of the driver himself and the people around you including the co-passengers, fellow drivers and pedestrians.
Defensive driving revolves around the principles of reducing the risk by anticipation, adherence to driving rules as well as safety rules and the driver’s ability to cope with unforeseen scenarios and climatic conditions. The guiding principles of defensive driving go beyond the general car mechanics awareness and driving skills of the driver (e.g. starting early to your destination, maintaining concentration, basic emergency response awareness etc)
A lot of other practitioners categorize defensive driving around planning and organizing the trip and concentrating, scanning the surroundings and controlling the emotions as some of the key success factors of this methodology.
The importance of Defensive Driving
Defensive driving is becoming more and more important because of the increased risks associated with the following changes that we are witnessing:
– The number of automobiles on the road is increasing at an alarming rate but roads are not becoming bigger or longer proportionally
– Car technologies are rapidly progressing resulting in faster and powerful cars
– The world population is exploding and hence more people on the road
– The fast lifestyle make people impatient and more vulnerable to more accidents
– More and more distractions are getting on board of a car – e.g. gadgets, mobile phones etc.
Defensive Driving Course – Online and Offline
While many government organizations, NGO – nonprofit organizations and private schools have launched defensive driving courses, there are some online courses as well available to help master your defensive driving skills.
As a thumb rule it’s always better to enroll with a reliable defensive driving school or course available in your city. If you aren’t aware of any such driving schools that offer an approved defensive driving course face to face, you may check out those available online courses.
You may also check out the following amazing reading on defensive driving driving techniques. It’s a must read for dummies as well as self-proclaimed experienced drivers.
In addition to learning defensive driving skills, having a safe vehicle can be a real life-saver as there are many great safety features on newer cars.
Have a pleasant and safe driving!