Exactly What Is Defensive Driving?

The person who drives defensively is more than "correct" � he is able to avoid getting trapped in dangerous situations.

Of course some people think of defensive driving in negative terms, associating it with a style of driving they don't care for... passive... meek... scared... granny-style. But really defensive driving is nothing like that at all. At Select Driving School the student views defensive driving as "good defense" � as in the context of sports, preventing bad events from happening by searching for potential trouble and reading situations and acting assertively. And while the skilled driver has the capability to get out of a bad situation � meaning he always has solutions to fall back on � he will first and foremost avoid getting trapped in that situation in the first place.

Is defensive driving hard to learn?

Not at all, though as with anything else, people are individuals and some will reach a higher level of ability than others. There are only a few basic ideas which form a foundation on which everything else is built. It's true that with experience a driver builds up a "database" of situations which are stored in his memory, allowing him to recognize a hazard more readily the next time he encounters it, but the basic ideas or principles of defensive driving are easily understood even by a beginner, and can be made to work right away with some practise.

Is there an easy example of this?

Here's one that's not too complex, showing first what not to do. A big truck is parked close to a crosswalk on a two-lane road which is not very wide. A driver approaching the crosswalk is staring straight ahead, seeing his lane open directly in front of him. He passes through at the speed limit and keeps on going...

Now, the only reason a pedestrian's life was not jeopardized at that instant was because no person happened to walk out into the crosswalk. It had nothing to do with the actions of the driver, who no doubt considers himself a much better driver than the average motorist. But in reality there was no defensive driving shown in that situation at all. He may well have felt "alert" and "ready" in some vague sort of way, but too often drivers simply wait until trouble presents itself, and then try to react at the last moment.

Instead, a driver should not only be aware of everything happening in the traffic picture, but should be searching for the "clues" telling him what could be developing. Then, if a hazard is anticipated, he should also prepare solutions. In our crosswalk case, he should recognize that a big truck could not only move into the traffic, it could be hiding a person or vehicle which could get in front of him very suddenly... and because the truck is parked near a crosswalk, the risk of a pedestrian walking or running out blindly is that much greater. He should then have slowed and, already aware of what was behind or beside him, he might also have moved farther away from the truck if that were appropriate.

Why does a person who's been taught defensive driving choose not to use it sometimes, and drive in ways that increase the risk of a crash?

This question has been looked at by researchers for decades, and currently ICBC is trying to address the matter by attempting to influence new drivers' attitudes with its Graduated Licensing Program. Generally, however, most people are of the opinion that attitude can't be taught. The issue is complex, but one factor overwhelms everything else. With constant exposure to the daily driving environment, drivers imitate and conform to what they see others doing. This is clearly evident to a person travelling in a foreign country, where many common driving behaviours will be different from those at home. There may not be any social or technical reason for the practices to be different, but if a resident of one country drives long enough in the other, he will inevitably change his driving. A newly licensed driver in BC may start out with the best of intentions (though some don't, as shown by the number of unskilled or reckless "N" drivers) but the new driver's approach to driving is continuously being influenced and molded by what goes on in daily traffic.

Another factor is that it's normal for the new driver to experiment � to try different ways of doing things. He hears others talking about what they do, and his instincts and individual perceptions as to how things could be done may seem somehow to be an improvement over what professionals and safety authorities recommend � if only because it may seem more emotionally satisfying. Of course there are sound, time-tested procedures for every aspect of driving, and the likelihood that a new driver can come up with an improvement is unrealistic, but the urge to try it anyway can be irresistible. (This is also how drivers going really fast can and do get into serious trouble. Aside from the added risk to other road users, they make deadly car control errors because they are "in over their heads" � doing whatever seems, moment by moment, to be something that might work.)

The battle of driver training versus the daily driving environment comes down to this � a perceptive person willing to think as an individual can apply his training and do what it takes to protect himself in today's traffic.