Once you put yourself behind the wheel of a car, you are putting yours and other people’s lives in danger. There’s nothing you can do about it because that’s just the nature of driving.

With this in mind, taking your privilege to drive seriously while following these defensive and intelligent driving tips will help you arrive safely to your destination.

The Right Driving Mindset

When driving on the road, whether you are the driver or the passenger, you may have noticed that some drivers are completely ignorant and assume that other drivers will properly follow all the rules of the road.

This is a very dangerous driving mindset. When driving you have to assume that other people will not make the right driving decisions. This is referred to as defensive driving. You drive to defend yourself against an accident.

Here are some examples:

  • When you see a car coming from a side road don’t assume that they saw you and will give you the right of way, always assume that they might have not seen you, and slow down accordingly.
  • When crossing a stop light intersection, don’t assume that everyone is respecting the red light. While it’s rare, some reckless drivers have passed the red light before, and the rule of thumb crossing a green light is always caution. Take a quick look for any incoming traffic as much as possible.
  • When a pedestrian is waiting on the side of the road to cross over, don’t assume that they can see you. Always be prepared to stop before you’d hit them in case they decided to cross over suddenly.

When driving defensively, while you need to remain as calm and relax as possible, you need to be almost a little paranoid to be able to avoid others mistakes.

Hearing is Important Too

Being able to see clearly is not the only major safety driving feature, you must be able to hear clearly as well.

For example, listening to loud music that prevents you from hearing the traffic is as dangerous as not being able to see clearly through your windshield.

Not only you must hear horns and emergency vehicles, but loud music will take your attention away from driving.

Driving with loud music is a handicap to driving, thus it makes your driving very dangerous to yourself and others around you.

Zero Exception to Not Wearing your Seat Belt

You must wear your seat belt at all time, no matter how far or how fast you go.

Even if you are driving just a few yards at 10 miles an hour you can still sustain serious injury in an accident believe it or not.

The average car weighs about 4,000 pounds. And once you get 4,000 pounds moving, even if it’s just 10 miles per hour, it’s going to have a large impact.

No matter how slow you are going, if you or someone else is crashes, your body is going to be shifted all over the place unless you have your seat belt on.

Safety for Other Passengers in your Car

Do not ever drive a car packed with people.

Most regular cars are built for 5 people maximum, including you.

There are 3 seat belts in the back seat, which means that if you have 4 people trying to sit in the back of your car, one of them or maybe none of them will be able to wear their seat belt which could turn into a catastrophe even if you were involved in a small accident.

Conclusion

Whether you are already have your driver’s license or are about to take your driving test, defensive and intelligent driving makes sense.

Never assuming that other drivers are safe and taking the best protection measures possible will go a very long way in adding to your safety out on the road.