Your Driving, the Road, andYour VehicleDefensive Driving
The best advice anyone can give about driving is: Drive
defensively.
Please start with a very important safety device in your
vehicle: Buckle up. See Safety Belts: They Are for
Everyone on page1-8.
Defensive driving really means “be ready for anything.”
On city streets, rural roads, or freeways, it means
“always expect the unexpected.”
Assume that pedestrians or other drivers are going to
be careless and make mistakes. Anticipate what
they might do. Be ready for their mistakes.
Rear-endcollisions are about the most preventable of
accidents.Yet they are common. Allow enough following
distance.It is the best defensive driving maneuver, in
bothcity and rural driving. You never know when the
vehiclein front of you is going to brake or turn suddenly.
Defensivedriving requires that a driver concentrate on
thedriving task. Anything that distracts from the driving
task— such as concentrating on a cellular telephone call,
reading,or reaching for something on the floor — makes
properdefensive driving more difficult and can even
causea collision, with resulting injury. Ask a passenger to
helpdo things like this, or pull off the road in a safe place
todo them yourself. These simple defensive driving
techniquescould save your life.
Drunken Driving
Death and injury associated with drinking and driving is
a national tragedy. It is the number one contributor
to the highway death toll, claiming thousands of victims
every year.
Alcohol affects four things that anyone needs to drive a
vehicle:
•Judgment
•Muscular Coordination
•Vision
•Attentiveness
Police records show that almost half of all motor
vehicle-related deaths involve alcohol. In most cases,
these deaths are the result of someone who was
drinking and driving. In recent years, more than
16,000annual motor vehicle-related deaths have been
associated with the use of alcohol, with more than
300,000people injured.
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