1. Always be prepared
Always be ready to take on preventive actions to avoid any collision.
This will require you to sit straight (instead of slouching), keep both hands on the steering wheel, stay aware and keep your focus on vehicles and road conditions. If you see a hazard, take actions such as slow down, safely change lanes or take other safe, preventative actions to avoid a collision and keep your driving environment safer.
2. Keep your focus on the road and your driving
Make sure that you are not distracted and stay focused on your driving by doing the following:
- Put away your cell phone and any other electronic devices while driving; do not use your cell phone while driving
- Stay awake; if you are sleepy, pull over and rest
- Do not space out or daydream while driving
- Pay attention to the road and your driving rather than what is going on inside your car.
- Do not eat, smoke, drink or put on makeup while driving
- Do not become distracted by what you see outside that is not related to defensive driving. For example, do not become distracted and slow down to ogle an accident; instead, stay focused on what you need to do to drive safely away from other distracted drivers.
3. Always scan far ahead and keep an eye on your surroundings.
Do not just focus on the car in front of you; emphasize your focus farther ahead and on your surroundings for possible hazards. Using mirrors, keep checking behind you for possible hazards.
4. Try to predict a risk, so you can take the safest action to avoid it
As you are aware of your surroundings and scanning the road and other drivers, you nee to be able to spot a hazard or traffic risk and make a prediction of what can happen if you do not take any actions- or, if you take an action, if it will cause another hazard.
Example: If you notice an open-bed truck on the highway in front of you carrying construction materials that can become loose at any moment, you need to be able to sense this risk. Safely change lanes away from the truck and if you preict that the truck is a high risk for other drivers, pull over to the nearest exit and call the highway patrol to report the hazard.
5. Have a safe plan and good strategy when you notice a risk
If you see a hazard, do not stare at it, instead, have a strategy to avoid an accident.
Example: If you are scanning far ahead and you see a ladder on the path ahead, take proper actions such as slow down safely and change lanes away from the path of the hazard.
6. Stay a safe distance from the vehicle ahead of you.
Follow the three-second rule, meaning you should have at least 3 seconds of driving time based on your current speed between you and the vehicle ahead of you. Make sure you and other drivers have enough room to maneuver around you.
You will need to allow more distance than three seconds in the following situation:
- Bad weather conditions such as fog, snow, rain or wind gusts
- Bad road conditions such as slippery roads or road construction
- Bad traffic jam, especially when cars dart in and out of your lane
- When another vehicle is tailgating you
- When you are behind a bus, large truck or motorcycle
Vehicles to your sides:
- Make sure that you always drive in the center of your lane
- Do not drive in another vehicle’s blind spot
- If possible, keep your vehicle in an open space situation where there are no vehicles to your sides so you can freely change lanes in case of an emergency
Vehicle to your back:
- Watch vehicles that are tailgating you. When it is safe, switch lanes to avoid the tailgating vehicle.
- If you cannot switch lanes, lightly tap your brake pedal to flash your brake lights and warn the tailgating vehicle that you will be slowing and allow them to pass you.
- If you cannot slow down or change lanes, or if the driver continues tailgating you, safely pull off the road so that he or she may pass.
7. Do not drive in another vehicle’s blind spot
Some drivers can be tired, distracted, forgetful or just lazy checking their blind spot before changing lanes, so never drive in the blind spot of another vehicle.
8. Do not expect that other drivers will drive the way you would like them to drive
Pay attention to what you can control, which is your own driving. Do not expect other drivers to follow rules of the road or driving practices that you like.
Example: If you notice a driver that is driving slower than the traffic flow in the left lane, do not tailgate the driver, thinking that will make him/her go faster.
9. Let the other drivers know when you are maneuvering through traffic.
Let other drivers know what you will be doing next by communicating with turn signals, hand signals, and your vehicle’s lights.
10. Try to stay in a safe lane of the highway
The far right lane is for exiting and entering highways, and the far left lane is for passing the other cars, so try not to drive in those lanes as a long-distance choice.
11. Don’t keep changing lanes.
Changing lanes unnecessarily and slipping between cars will increase the chances of getting into accidents
Examples:
- When you change lanes, another driver may change lanes at the same time and head for the same lane you are moving into; this is a common risk you should avoid
- When you slip between two cars that do not have enough space between them, the car in front of you may slow down and you can rear-en the car in front of you, which will be considered your fault because you did not allow enough space between your car and the car in front of you
12. Watch out for drivers who keep changing lanes or slipping between cars
If you notice a car that is dangerously speeding and maneuvering between traffic and slipping between cars, slow down the give the speeding driver enough space to maneuver around you
13. Be careful at intersections and watch out for drivers that go through red lights
If you are at an intersection and the light turns green, do not assume that the other drivers who have the red light are stopping.
Unfortunately, there are many drivers that try to make it thought a yellow light when it is already red and if you are the first driver at the intersection, you will be the target for those drivers. So, if you are at an intersection and the light turns green, check for cars that may run the red light and hit you from the side, before proceeding into the intersection.
14. Watch out for drunk, tired or bad drivers and keep your distance from them.
If you notice a driver is drifting in and out of lanes, driving on the center line, driving too fast or too slow, tailgating, or driving at night without their headlights on, keep a good distance aways from those types of drivers.
15. Stay away from road rage situations
If you notice a driver is driving recklessly or is upset at your driving and honks at you, do not engage with the driver in any way or make eye contact with them. Slow down and let them speed away.
16. Avoid braking suddenly
Unless you have no other choice, avoid braking suddenly. Watch the brake lights of vehicles ahead. If several vehicles begin braking or slowing, brake early to avoid a sudden stop. Warn drivers behind you by tapping your brakes several times.