Street Smart Defensive Driving

In the same way that a homeless person must become "street smart" to survive on the streets, a driver must be street smart to survive on the highways. With today's increasing traffic on the roads, there are over forty million deaths from automobile accidents each year. It is up to every driver to do everything possible to make their time on the road a safer experience and one way to do that is to learn street smart defensive driving.

One of the first rules of street smart defensive driving is to always buckle your seat belt any time you leave your driveway, no matter how far you are going. If you only intend to go around the block, even that's far enough to have an accident. As a matter of fact, many accidents happen with one mile of your home. So always buckle up.

Street smart defensive driving means knowing when you are in the right emotional and physical state to make you safe behind the wheel. If you are upset about something, you need to calm down before you drive. You are not going to be making good decisions when you are not thinking clearly. Some medications will also change your state of mind as well as your physical condition. Medications that make you drowsy are just as dangerous as drinking a bottle of whiskey. Having your judgment impaired in one way is just as dangerous as it is in another.

Getting behind the wheel when you have not had adequate rest is also against street smart defensive driving rules. You may think you function just fine after four hours of sleep but when you get behind the wheel, you can fall asleep before you realize there is a problem. Prevent this from happening by never getting behind the wheel when you are too tired to drive.

Street smart defensive driving encourages drivers to take responsibility for their own driving. You need to stay focused on what you are doing, not what someone else in the car with you is doing. If you are talking on the cell phone or trying to put on your makeup, then you are not using street smart defensive driving.

Street smart defensive driving not only means watching out for yourself but for other drivers as well. You need to know what is going on up ahead before you get there. You also need to know what drivers in the lanes around you are doing. Don't drive too closely to the car in front of you in case they have to stop suddenly. Whenever you are going to make a turn or switch to another lane, make sure you signal so that other drivers are aware of your intentions. Nothing is more dangerous than switching back and forth between lanes without warning.

Use your street smart defensive driving skills and you will not only make your time on the highway safer but you will also protect the passengers that are along with you for the ride.