While some car accidents are not preventable, many are avoidable by using what’s become known as ‘defensive driving’ tactics. This involves driving in a way to be pro-active and not only reactive to situations on the road or near to it.
Here are 5 tips to become a better defensive driver and avoid at least some potential car accidents before they happen.
1. Stay Alert
As any good car accident lawyer will tell you, being distracted on the road is a significant cause of unintended accidents. If you’re checking your Satnav on the dash or looking at messages on a smartphone, your attention is not where it should be – on the road.
When not looking at the road, you cannot act in response to what you’re seeing in front of you. Stay constantly alert, so you’re ready to respond instantly to a changing circumstance.
2. Anticipate Other Drivers’ Actions
Just like with chess, learn to think several moves ahead.
Should a vehicle speed past you but the road is narrowing to fewer lanes, then at some point there’s going to be a crunch. Preemptively gradually slowing down avoids surprising any driver behind you whilst allowing space for the faster vehicle in the other lane to have space when the lanes merge.
3. Maintain Good Distance
It’s sensible to maintain a reasonable distance between your vehicle and the one in front. A four-second gap is ideal because it allows time to react to unexpected actions by the driver who’s ahead of your vehicle.
When you ride the car in front, it allows almost zero time to react should they surprise you. This inevitably leads to a greater likelihood of more accidents. Also, when the gap has closed due to the flow of traffic stopping, recreate the gap between the vehicles before moving forward.
4. Stop Multi-tasking
Humans are not good at multi-tasking. Women do it better than men but it’s no one’s strong suit, despite our continued belief that it is.
When thinking about something else other than driving, you’re split tasking. It’s a terrible idea because it removes your ability to problem solve and plan. With defensive driving, this includes seeing potential upcoming issues and deciding to move out of the way to avoid them.
5. Adjust Your Driving for Road & Weather Conditions
Both past weather conditions like rain and current weather patterns can materially change safety on the road. Part of driving defensively is adjusting what you do to make driving safer than it otherwise would be.
When the roads are slick from rain, drive slower than you usually would do. Understand that stopping distances are extended in wet road conditions and especially if your vehicle doesn’t have a set of all-weather tires fitted.
Lastly, it’s always a good idea to have an exit plan or escape route should an impact appear likely. Actively look for a side road, a pull-off or other place to maneuver your vehicle to get out of the path of the potential impact.
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