Education

Defensive driving: the evolution of safe driving

0

You cannot rely on luck in the car: safety behind the wheel depends on the driver’s technical skills and good driving habits. The dangers that can be encountered are not only physical: an unexpected obstacle, bad weather conditions, a car problem. Even emotions such as stress, anger or nervousness can take over and lead us to behave dangerously for ourselves and for others new jersey driving program.

From these considerations comes the “defensive” driving. What is it about? It is a training that goes beyond the simple knowledge of driving techniques and the rules to be respected. It also includes a specific ability to foresee situations of potential risk.

Defensive driving means «driving in a way that saves lives, time and money, despite the situation in which we find ourselves and the behavior of others». Thus the definition of ANSI/ASSE Z15.1, the American standard for road safety.

The safe motorist knows driving techniques and safely manages his vehicle. The defensive driver is one step ahead. He is trained to observe the road and to recognize potentially dangerous situations in advance. He controls anger and stress and adopts behaviors that “defuse” the negative emotions of others. He instinctively uses effective techniques to prevent risk situations or reduce the severity of the accident.

But I’m already an excellent driver» many will think. Those who demonstrate the greatest aptitude for safe driving are those who are not convinced that they already know everything. Who believes in the need to continuously improve their knowledge and experiences. An “on the road” training, based only on the kilometers traveled, often generates bad habits that are never corrected and lead to incorrect instinctive reactions.

Driving distracted – those who follow our news know it – is one of the main causes of road accidents. And motorists are aware of it too. But, as the saying goes, “between saying and doing…”

An interesting survey conducted some time ago by the Traffic Safety Culture Index  reveals that very high percentages of drivers are aware of the dangers of certain behaviours, yet not everyone avoids them. Example: it appears from the report that practically 100% consider it very dangerous to read or write messages while driving; however, around a quarter of respondents later admitted that they had typed messages and 33% that they had read them. Again, 80% of respondents consider it dangerous to hold the phone to talk or send voice messages, but then 37% say they have done so at least once in the previous 30 days.

You may also like

More in Education