- What is defensive driving?
Is it that I'm a good driver?
Because most drivers would agree with that statement
regardless of where they live in the world,
religion or politics.
Stick around, we're going to give you
five defensive driving techniques
that will make you a safer, smarter driver.
(upbeat music)
The most important element of defensive driving
is space management.
You need to manage space around your vehicle,
to the sides, to the rear, and to the front.
And you can always, always manage space
in front of your vehicle.
And I know there's drivers out there that will say to me,
"Oh, if I leave space in front, drivers will cut in."
Yes, they will, but if they're cutting in,
they're going faster than you,
and they will only be there for a couple of seconds
and then you can reclaim your space.
Always, always manage space in front of your vehicle,
have your two to three-second following distance
behind other traffic.
And when you're stopped in traffic,
always stop so you can see the tires
making clear contact with the pavement.
And when you're moving slowly in a queue,
again, also never get closer to the vehicle in front of you
so that, at all times, you can see the tires
of the vehicle in front of you making clear contact
with the pavement.
If you manage space well, you are rarely going to get
into trouble when you're driving.
It is the most critical skill that you can have
as a defensive driver,
because the speed is going to take care of itself.
It's like right now,
I have a two to three-second following distance
in front of me behind this truck,
and I'm simply doing 50 kilometers an hour
which is the posted speed limit,
or 30 miles an hour for those of you in the States.
The Smith Space Cushion System
developed and founded in the 1940s by Harold Smith,
indicated that if you manage space,
you have a place to drive out of
if you get into an emergency situation, which is correct
because it's faster to drive out of an emergency situation
than it is to brake.
However, (chuckles) roads are much, much busier
than they were in the 1940s when Smith founded that system.
So it's now more important
that you manage space in front of your vehicle
so that you can come to a stop and not get into trouble
in case something happens in front of you.
The definition of defensive driving is
is that you are making allowances,
you have skills and strategies in place
that are compensating for the errors of other drivers.
And also for when you make mistakes
because we all make mistakes when we're driving,
we lose attention,
we get distracted by something on the side of the road
or we're looking at something or whatnot.
That's why it is so important to manage space
around your vehicle,
to allow for the mistakes of other people
and for your own mistakes
that you may make when you're driving.
So the most important element of defensive driving
is managing space around your vehicle.
Tip number two is situational awareness.
Where am I? What is it?
Who is it? What's the weather outside doing?
What's the outside temperature?
Where am I at the intersection?
I have to do a little jig-jog here
'cause I can't see past the traffic, there we go.
So situational awareness, being aware of what's around you,
being aware of intersections,
pedestrians right here at the intersection,
I was slowing down and backing off for them.
I've got somebody stopped here at an alleyway.
(chuckles) So there's a lot going on
and you need to be aware of everything that's going on.
And of course this vehicle in front of me
didn't have the signal on,
but was waiting to turn into the alley,
I didn't know that, but I stay back,
I relax, I don't get too close.
Again, even if that vehicle stopped mid-block,
I still stop back so I can see the tires
making clear contact with the payment.
That way I'm far enough away
that I'm less likely to hit something.
So it's observation, but it's more than seeing,
it's being aware of what's going on
as you're moving through the intersections.
Tip number three is what I call MIT,
mapping an intersection and tracking
what's going on at the intersection.
This dovetails well with situational awareness.
So I'm tracking, I've mapped the intersection.
It's a complex intersection with left-hand turning lanes,
advance lights, slip lanes,
pedestrians, cyclists.
I got a cyclist over here, even in the wintertime
we have cyclists riding around,
so you have to be aware of that.
The pedestrian's gone, way up the sidewalk.
Cross traffic is going through.
Traffic has stopped, there's nobody behind me.
So I'm watching traffic coming up behind me
at the intersection.
Slip lane over there, I have a truck turning right,
and I'm turning left.
So I'm watching and I'm tracking that truck.
The truck is gone.
I've got my advance green.
So checking here, there's nothing here,
there's no pedestrians.
I'm tracking that car over there because it's turning right.
And of course the car is going to turn right in beside me.
So I was tracking that vehicle
as I was coming around the corner through the intersection
and making a left-hand turn.
Same thing here, I'm tracking the red car,
moving up, the car's coming to a stop,
pedestrian over here on my left,
vehicles coming through, I'm stopping behind the stop line.
The pedestrian is gone.
Traffic is coming through.
I cannot see what's going on over there
because there's a truck sitting beside me
as you can see in the dash cam.
Vehicle on the other side of the intersection,
pedestrian coming through the intersection,
I'm tracking that pedestrian
to figure out where that pedestrian is going.
MIT, mapping the intersection and tracking the road users
around at the different sections of the intersection.
Especially those that are crossing your path of travel
as you're going to move left through the intersection.
So, clear, the pedestrian is gone.
The vehicle has come through.
I'm clear to go, shoulder check,
and proceed through on the left-hand turn.
Vehicles coming through,
there's no road users at the intersection
so I'm clear to go.
I don't have to slow down,
I just have to map and track the intersect.
Remember, it's important to locate the intersection,
map the intersection,
and track the road users that are at the intersection,
especially those road users
that are going to cross your path of travel
because 40% of crashes occur at intersections.
Tip number four, parking lots.
If you can find a space
which you can drive through into the next space
so that you can drive out
when you're leaving the parking lot, that is ideal.
In parking lots, be sure that you go slow
because there's lots of activity going on,
especially this time of year
with the holiday season and whatnot,
track pedestrians, figure out where pedestrians are.
If you're the least bit unsure,
simply stop and wait for them to pass your vehicle.
When backing out in a parking lot,
be sure that you look first out the rear window
before you move the vehicle, check your mirrors,
check your backup camera if you have one,
but make sure that you're looking out the back window
before you put the vehicle in motion.
Most bingles, smashes and bashes happen in parking lots
because people put the vehicle in motion
and then they look, and by then it's too late.
Tip number five, and probably the most important tip,
check yourself before you wreck yourself.
You have to have an attitude of defensive driving
that, "I'm just going to let them go
and have their crash somewhere else."
because people are going to cut you off.
There's going to be drunk drivers,
there's going to be poor drivers, there's going to be bad weather.
All of these things are going to happen when you're driving.
They're not unpredictable.
(chuckles) They are as predictable
as that tomorrow we are going to get weather.
Because the top two reasons for traffic crashes
are failing to yield and following too close.
Those two driving actions,
failing to yield, failing to give way,
and following too close,
are simply attitudes about driving,
it's your attitude towards driving.
And if you want to see the perfect film
about Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Walker,
a Disney character in the 1950s,
that was about the very nature of
the Jekyll and Hyde character that we become when we drive,
have a look at that up in the corner,
I'll put a card up there for you,
they become this (chuckles) crazy creature, which is crazy,
they follow too close, they fail to give the right of way
and they believe that they have the right to go.
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And remember, pick the best answer,
not necessarily the right answer.
Have a great day, bye now
- [Narrator] Mr. Walker owns a motor car
and considers himself good driver.
(Mr. Walker groaning)
But once behind the wheel,
a strange phenomenon takes place.
(car engine spluttering) Mr. Walker is charged
with an overwhelming sense of power.
His whole personality changes.
Abruptly he becomes an uncontrollable monster,
(suspenseful music) a demon driver.
Mr. Walker is now Mr. Wheeler.