When it comes to driving on the road, the majority of people you’ll encounter are safe, thoughtful and will generally avoid any kind of confrontation or accident to the best of their ability.
Unfortunately, there are times when road rage and poor judgement can lead to an accident that not only hurts the driver but also innocent people around them.
According to road rage statistics in 2020, around 19.3% of drivers have felt anger and intense aggression while on the road. This is usually compounded by stress and frustrations that people might face at work or at home, and it’s also made worse when they see other drivers doing irresponsible things such as looking at their phone. Many of these situations can enrage drivers, causing them to act out of frustration and potentially endangering the lives of other drivers.
In other words, many accidents on the road occur due to the actions of other drivers. And that alone is one of the biggest motivations for learning more about defensive driving.
What is defensive driving?
Defensive driving is a practice that promotes safe driving strategies. It’s all about minimizing risk and avoiding accidents by being more mindful of the overall road conditions and other drivers. In some cases, it can even involve predicting the behavior of other drivers based on their actions and avoiding them as best as possible, or at least being mindful of them so that you can react to sudden and dangerous movements.
Defensive driving doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be crash-free for the rest of your life. However, it does raise the chances that your car accident legal claim will be successful if you do end up in an accident because you’ll have done everything in your power to avoid crashing. If the car accident isn’t your fault and you have proof of this in your actions, then it’ll help a lot in the event that you do crash. We also can’t forget that defensive driving can increase your chances of walking away from a crash unscathed.
Why defensive driving is even more important in the modern day
These days, defensive driving is somewhat of a forgotten practice. People get their licenses much sooner than before and safety features in our vehicles can give us more peace of mind while making up for a lack of driving skill and awareness. Unfortunately, this only invites more complacency when behind the wheel. Couple that with the fact that cars are getting faster and quieter and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. While modern safety features can definitely help with your driving, you can’t neglect to improve your overall awareness of the road.
In short, defensive driving is all about planning ahead, being mindful about other cars and generally creating a safer environment for everyone around you. Defensive driving is incredibly important in today’s society and you’d be wise to pick up some tips and tricks or take a formal course in the practice.