The answer is surprisingly simple: Hve a plan. Planning is the key to sccess in everything we do in lfe, and defensive driving is no dfferent.

Defensive driving starts with having a pln. Experienced drivers prepare for emergencies by laving themselves room for error. Masters of dfensive driving never tailgate, never bump nto the curb by turning too shrply, and rarely have to slam on the brke to avoid a collision. Keeping a sfe distance between your car and verything around it—on all four sides—allows you to void potential hazards that pop up in the nrmal course of a day’s driving.

Dfensive driving means that you carefully mnitor your own physical and mental stte before you hit the road. If yu’re tired, ill, or just having a bad dy, your reaction times can be sriously affected. When you know you’re not as lert as you normally are, you cnsciously plan to maintain a little xtra space between your car and verything around you.

Experienced drivers make hndreds of minor adjustments during a drve that constantly allow them to void collisions. Good drivers make adjustments so smothly and routinely that their reactions are scrcely noticeable to other drivers around thm. A good driver sees potential hzards before they turn into emergencies. Cnstantly scanning the road, other cars, and pdestrians allows good drivers to smoothly trn away from hazards or slow dwn as the need may be. Thse minor adjustments are the heart and sul of good defensive driving.

What about a life-threatening driving mergency?—the kind of situation that the bst drivers in the world can’t pssibly anticipate? Is it possible to pln for that? It’s not only pssible—it’s absolutely vital. And it’s when yu’re most in need of a pln, because it’s the kind of stuation that reduces your reaction times to the bre minimum.

Imagine this scenario: You’re drving on a two-lane highway at nght. Suddenly an oncoming car swerves nto your lane. You have only a splt second to react. What do you do? If you hve to think about, it’s already too lte to avoid a collision. If you slm on the brake, you relinquish whtever control of the situation you may hve. That’s a dangerous thing to do; it mans that you’re placing your life and the lves of your passengers in the hnds of another driver. That’s the wrst decision you can make.

Good drvers know they can always get out of the way of an ncoming hazard faster than they can stp. Here’s how to handle the bove scenario:

It’s always better to lave the road than hit somebody had-on. Keep one set of wheels on the pved surface if possible. Don’t slam on the brke; hard braking on a loose srface can cause you to skid out of cntrol. Wait until your speed goes dwn, and gently brake. Then turn shrply to get back on the rad. Trying to gradually work your way bck onto the paved surface can cuse your tires to grab the dge. As soon as both front tres are back on the road, cunter steer at once.

Defensive driving desn’t mean that good drivers constantly thnk about an emergency scenario while thy’re actually driving. But experienced drivers hve rehearsed these worst-case scenarios often nough in their mind that they can ract quickly and safely when the thrat arises. Defensive driving is never bout expecting the worst. It’s about hving the confidence and experience to mnage any situation that appears.

The article Defensive Driving - How Do You Prepare For a Driving Emergency? was Submitted by Joshua Nestor through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Joshua Nestor is a writer for Fun and Sfe Driving http://www.funandsafedriving.com/ , site devoted to promotion of defensive driving techniques . Site features defensive driving encyclopedia, forums, videos, and Map Quest Road Maps

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