When driving, you cannot rely on luck: road safety depends on the driver's technical skills and good driving habits. The dangers one might encounter are not only physical: an unexpected obstacle, bad weather conditions, a car problem. Even emotions like stress, anger, or nervousness can take over and lead us to engage in dangerous behaviors for ourselves and others.
From these considerations comes "defensive driving." What is it about? It is training that goes beyond simply knowing driving techniques and rules to follow. It also includes a specific ability to anticipate potential risk situations.
Defensive driving means "driving in such a way as to save lives, time, and money, regardless of the situation we are in and the behavior of others." This is the definition from ANSI/ASSE Z15.1, the American standard for road safety.
A safe driver knows driving techniques and handles their vehicle with confidence. A defensive driver is one step ahead. They are trained to observe the road and recognize potentially dangerous situations in advance. They control anger and stress and adopt behaviors that "defuse" the negative emotions of others. They instinctively use effective techniques to prevent risk situations or reduce the severity of an accident.
"But I'm already a great driver," many will think. However, those who show the greatest aptitude for safe driving are those who are not convinced they already know everything. Those who believe in the need to continually improve their knowledge and experiences. "On the road" training, based only on miles driven, often generates bad habits that are never corrected and lead to incorrect instinctive reactions.
This is a topic our School is very sensitive to. Indeed, we have developed a specific course, based on our twenty years of experience in road safety. Find out more here on our website.
