Motoring: Driving with discipline

Defensive Driving is a code of ethics for the motorist to follow with fervour. In the first of a three-part series on Defensive Driving, Friday offers some handy tips for the motorist so that he can drive safely - and return home safely

Defensive Driving is primarily a 'state of mind' adopted by people who wish to drive on our highways in safety. It may also be described as a Code of Discipline with a set of sensible driving rules and guidelines that, if followed, will ensure you have an excellent chance of returning home this evening and every other evening.

Accidents on the highways are caused by people who drive carelessly, aggressively, badly, arrogantly and who have a complete disregard for the effect on others that their poor driving behaviour creates.

Many of these bad drivers seem to take on another persona once they get behind the steering wheel of a vehicle. Gone are the polite considerations towards others and present are an aggressive attitude and a tendency to forget all the finer points of driving techniques they were taught when qualifying for a driving licence.

When the pilot of a small private plane takes to the air, he goes through a comprehensive list of items on a checklist before even starting the engine. He does this as part of the discipline of flying and because his life may depend on finding something wrong that could be put right before take-off. Percentage-wise, that pilot is less likely to have a fatal accident when flying his plane than he is when driving to or from the airport in his car!

It is highly likely, though, that the pilot is a Defensive Driver as he is used to following a discipline in his hobby of flying. So what sort of things make a Defensive Driver different from a run-of-the-mill driver?

Defensive Driving techniques

A dedicated Defensive Driver will obey the following rules and guidelines:
* Be careful to avoid making driving errors and mistakes

* Watch out for other drivers who lack skill or who have an improper attitude

* Not become involved in an accident, or near miss, due to weather, road or traffic conditions or because of the actions of pedestrians or other road- users

* Is constantly on alert for accident-producing situations so he can avoid them

* Gives up his right-of-way in order to prevent an accident

* Give his full attention to his driving. He, or she, avoids distractions such as making mobile phone calls, talking excessively with passengers, making audio adjustments requiring visual input or eating and drinking when driving in dense traffic.

* Learn to drive correctly in different situations, like highway driving, night driving, driving in rain and fog, driving when towing another vehicle in an emergency

* Have the knowledge and ability to react accordingly in a skid or a tyre blowout

* Know and comply with the Rules of the Road.

That is a comprehensive list of items but if studied carefully, you will realise it is little more than what you were trained to do when qualifying for a driving licence.

How our driving habits change.

How we forget the basic rules of the road. How we take shortcuts with our driving techniques and so endanger the lives of others as well as our own.

Accident facts about young and old drivers

Drivers under the age of 20 years have the highest rate of accidents for every 100,000 kms - their frequency of having an accident is over ten times greater than for all other age groups combined, according to statistics produced in the USA. Whilst teenage drivers account for only seven per cent of all drivers in the States, they are involved in over 25 per cent of all accidents.

Young drivers are still experimenting with vehicles and may push the abilities of the vehicle, and themselves, over the limit, sometimes with fatal consequences. The way they drive when with young friends may differ greatly from when driving with their parents.

Senior citizens present a different problem as due to the passage of time, their reflexes and response times will be slower than most drivers and this increases the risk of not responding to varying driving situations quickly.

The Defensive Driver is therefore doubly alert when driving near young and old drivers and should make allowances for erratic behaviour of the former and slow reactions of the latter.

Starting a Journey (The Pilot's Way)

Create your own routine for starting off on a drive, no matter how long or short it may be. Carrying out a routine procedure will focus your mind on the fact that you are about to enter a 'killing' zone and you should be prepared to avoid any disasters.

A Defensive Driver will carry out this routine on each and every trip in his vehicle:
* Enter the car and lock the doors, carry out a visual check of all controls
* Ensure handbrake is applied
* Check if the car is in Neutral (manual gearbox) or in P for Park auto transmission)
* Check adjustment of driver's seat
* Check adjustment of rear view mirrors (internal and external)
* Fasten seatbelt(s) - all occupants
* Start engine (check dashboard warning lights all go out) - some vehicles require pressure on brake pedal or clutch pedal before the engine will start
* Select appropriate gear
* Release the ratchet on the hand brake but hold firmly on with button pressed
* Check mirrors
* Signal with trafficators for five seconds before moving off
* Check over left shoulder to cover blind spot
* Release handbrake and move off

If you adopt this type of routine approach to starting any journey, it will soon become an automatic procedure for you. However, it should be done with full consciousness every time or a vital element may be missed.

This is one of the first steps to becoming a true Defensive Driver by adding a discipline to your driving routines. In Part 2 of this series on 'Defensive Driving' we will introduce you to more important things to be aware of when out on the road and when driving in different types of weather.