Sunday, August 23, 2009

Defensive Driving Rules


Rule 12:Choose Your Route for Safety


“What seems to be an easy path may not take us to our destinations.” “Losers chose the path mostly free of hassles.” Are these valuable lessons applicable while we are driving on the road? “Certainly not”

People die because they choose not to drive in a way which is considered decent. We consider it beneath and go beyond the limit of what our bodies can take. And the result is obvious: thousands die in every year and thousands are left incapacitated. The point is: can’t we practice defensive driving and learn to find out where the dangers are and plan ahead to avoid them?

Let me give you an example: I ride my motorcycle everyday to work on the highly congested and busy freeways of Washington DC. Needless to say this is a dangerous ride: too many people jostling each other, harried, angry and mostly distracted. What do I do to keep myself from trouble? In all these years I’m pretty used to mixing up with them but that doesn’t mean I don’t keep track of them. It’s certainly very difficult and I mean it.

Different routes pose different challenges: No matter where you drive be it city streets or boulevards, you are always subject to an intersection collision (mostly while you are driving a bit faster) On the freeways, you might get run over, or hit from behind if you happen to brake suddenly. Changing lanes, all of a sudden, not keeping ears and eyes open, getting impatient in traffic congestions, not bothering about weather conditions are some of the key reasons why we land up in trouble.

Sometimes, mostly while we are riding a motorcycle, we tend to follow short cut or dare to cross three lanes of heavy traffic. Picture yourself hundreds of vehicles of all kinds changing lanes to the left while others changing lanes to the right to exit at the next off ramp. Oh, too horrific! What’s the point taking smaller route if it is highly congested? Riding or driving a couple of miles more will not make a hole in our wallet; nor does it sound our beneath. Why not manage the risk by taking a safer route? Can’t we take another safer route to avoid a particular intersection? The answer is yes we can. All it takes a cool mind and some time to think. The key to defensive driving is to save your life and drive off the edge.

Florida traffic school
Traffic Interactive (Online Traffic School)