Your Driving, the Road, andYour VehicleDefensive DrivingThe best advice anyone can give about driving is:Drive defensively.Please start with a very important safety device in yourvehicle: Buckle up. See Safety Belts: They Are forEveryone on page 1-28.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 tobe careless and make mistakes. Anticipate whatthey might do. Be ready for their mistakes.Rear-end collisions are about the most preventable ofaccidents. Yet they are common. Allow enough followingdistance. It is the best defensive driving maneuver, inboth city and rural driving. You never know when thevehicle in front of you is going to brake or turn suddenly.Defensive driving requires that a driver concentrate onthe driving task. Anything that distracts from thedriving task — such as concentrating on a cellulartelephone call, reading, or reaching for something onthe floor — makes proper defensive driving more difficultand can even cause a collision, with resulting injury.Ask a passenger to help do things like this, or pull off theroad in a safe place to do them yourself. These simpledefensive driving techniques could save your life.Drunken DrivingDeath and injury associated with drinking and driving isa national tragedy. It is the number one contributorto the highway death toll, claiming thousands of victimsevery year.Alcohol affects four things that anyone needs to drivea vehicle:• Judgment• Muscular Coordination• Vision• Attentiveness4-2
