5 ms·

My Dad - who used to drive an Ambulance then Fire Engines (for about 20 years) - taught me to drive and use something called "Defensive Driving Techniques". Whe

My Dad - who used to drive an Ambulance then Fire Engines (for about 20 years) - taught me to drive and use something called "Defensive Driving Techniques". Where most people look at one or two cars ahead and hopefully the one behind, my Dad taught me to look at every car that I can see, using every gap, window, mirror etc to be aware of my surroundings. Look at people, bus stops, crossings, shops in towns etc. He also suggested that rather than just looking at a car, you look at the position of the car, who's driving, the age, have I seen them drive weirdly yet? This way you can build up a much better mental model of how they're going to react to something. This has saved me numerous times where I've judged what a car will do just by how they're placed in the road, even if they look like they may do something else to a normal driver. It's a technique that I've shown to my girlfriend and it's changed her driving (for the better) and what I'll be teaching my kids when the time comes.

umairsiddique 12y ago
That's how you drive in third world countries.
- sk5t 12y ago
  It's the right way to drive anywhere hundreds of barely-trained primates are distractedly operating heavy equipment at high speed...
CraigJPerry 12y ago
That's a kind of brute force approach. It seems sub optimal but I don't know how to reason about it. Should I say that observing every vehicle across the median on the oncoming carriageway is inefficient? Well I can't say that because occasionally some small cargo or even a wheel falls off and bounds across to the oncoming lane - something you definitely want to see coming. Perhaps taking a zonal approach is as effective and certainly less taxing on the driver. Scan each zone, some zones get scanned more frequently, and look for anything unusual.
- Jtsummers 12y ago
  Defensive driving is really just a specific application of situational awareness [0]. With practice and experience you'll go from just maintaining visibility and space for reaction time to actually remembering where drivers are that have been blocked from your view by other vehicles. You never really track every vehicle and pedestrian, but you do make note of particular ones and the rest get lumped into groups based on their behavior. You'll learn to anticipate the car that's going to make a left turn in front of you by taking your foot off the throttle earlier instead of braking at the last second. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situation_awareness http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situation_awareness
  - gretful 12y ago
    you're talking about chunking: at first you try to remember everything, then as you gain experience you learn you can abstract certain items away to a general model of them (chunk) without having to remember the specifics of each individual item.
- jerf 12y ago
  "That's a kind of brute force approach. It seems sub optimal but I don't know how to reason about it." Well, what else are you doing while driving? For the most part, whatever your answer is to that question, stop it. (Reasonable exceptions apply; conversation with another in the car isn't too big a deal, of course.) Now that you're just driving and not doing anything else, you might as well be active about it and be on the lookout for long-tail risks, since really long-tail risks are all you ever have to worry about. Driving is fairly safe and almost everything that ever happens bad is long-tail in the first place or we wouldn't drive.
  - chadgeidel 12y ago
    Agree 100% with "if you are doing something else while driving, stop it". I have always thought the conversation is the distracting part, not the act of holding a phone to your head. Research shows that it's less distracting to talk to a passenger than a phone conversation: http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2007/01/24/want-to-drive-safely-talking-t/ http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2007/01/24/want-to-dr... (link in article). Still, I prefer to remain focused on the driving conditions. I'm not sure I agree that "driving is fairly safe" though. We have mitigated much of the risk associated with driving with vehicle impact standards and road design. I still really feel that most drivers don't understand the magnitude of what they are doing - they become accustomed to the relative safety and start doing other things. It seems the more safety we "build into the system" the more risks people are willing to take. I'm not suggesting we take safety out of the system though!
1123581321 12y ago
I use that technique, and during a period in which I commuted, my meditations on cars taught me to use the same principles of thorough research and prediction to analyze stocks, which worked out well. It can also apply to understanding a room of people or a crowd. Those are all situations where overconfidence can be worse than overcaution. I think defensive driving is a good way to introduce that kind of prudence to people who would otherwise not pay close attention to things because piloting an auto is frightening at first so makes a person receptive to whatever makes them safer and gives them confidence.
frogpelt 12y ago
I've heard Defensive Driving described as driving with the assumption that someone else is going to do something wrong, and to be in a position to defend yourself from that eventuality. The opposite is to drive Offensively (ha ha) which I guess is to assume that every other car will do the right thing and it's okay if I take a few risks.
- jbrooksuk 12y ago
  I wouldn't say that at all since you're not assuming people are going to do something wrong per-se, you're more willing to accept that a situation that looks normal is going to turn out differently and be aware of how you can avoid any driver who's going to do that stupid thing.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- Raphmedia 12y ago
  I drive with the assumption that everyone else is drunk. Most friday night around here, it is true. In the morning, I drive with the assumption that everyone is half blind and too aged to drive. I work next to an eye clinic, so this is also true. Drive like everyone else is a fool and you should make it back home safe.
ahjones 12y ago
I learnt these techniques from the IAM [0] in the UK. Their manual is Roadcraft - the Police Driver's Handbook [1] which introduces techniques which I've found incredibly valuable. [0]: http://www.iam.org.uk/ http://www.iam.org.uk/ [1]: http://www.amazon.com/Roadcraft-Police-Drivers-Handbook-Foundation-ebook/dp/B00O8SQ446/ http://www.amazon.com/Roadcraft-Police-Drivers-Handbook-Foun...
mabbo 12y ago
Even beyond that, there's an overall 'field' of cars for me. Peripheral vision gets an overall sense of all cars in the proverbial neighborhood, and looks for scary patterns. Little things that seem harmless (and maybe are) put me on edge and make me guard my brake. My wife didn't understand at first, but after 12 years of driving with zero accidents, it becomes apparent that it works.
jessaustin 12y ago
...look at every car that I can see, using every gap, window, mirror etc to be aware of my surroundings. Look at people, bus stops, crossings, shops in towns etc. In my experience a shortcut to this level of awareness is to regularly cycle in commuting traffic. Not only does one notice much more, but one also notices the classes of things that it's actually impossible to notice from an autocage. (Examples: what most drivers are doing in addition to driving, where pedestrians are hiding, how a line of traffic moves through signals in fits and starts, etc.)
- jbrooksuk 12y ago
  I cycled 150 miles for charity once, you soon pick up on extra things - having been knocked before.

umairsiddique 12y ago

That's how you drive in third world countries.

sk5t 12y ago
It's the right way to drive anywhere hundreds of barely-trained primates are distractedly operating heavy equipment at high speed...

CraigJPerry 12y ago

That's a kind of brute force approach. It seems sub optimal but I don't know how to reason about it. Should I say that observing every vehicle across the median on the oncoming carriageway is inefficient? Well I can't say that because occasionally some small cargo or even a wheel falls off and bounds across to the oncoming lane - something you definitely want to see coming. Perhaps taking a zonal approach is as effective and certainly less taxing on the driver. Scan each zone, some zones get scanned more frequently, and look for anything unusual.

Jtsummers 12y ago
Defensive driving is really just a specific application of situational awareness [0]. With practice and experience you'll go from just maintaining visibility and space for reaction time to actually remembering where drivers are that have been blocked from your view by other vehicles. You never really track every vehicle and pedestrian, but you do make note of particular ones and the rest get lumped into groups based on their behavior. You'll learn to anticipate the car that's going to make a left turn in front of you by taking your foot off the throttle earlier instead of braking at the last second. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situation_awareness http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situation_awareness
- gretful 12y ago
  you're talking about chunking: at first you try to remember everything, then as you gain experience you learn you can abstract certain items away to a general model of them (chunk) without having to remember the specifics of each individual item.
jerf 12y ago
"That's a kind of brute force approach. It seems sub optimal but I don't know how to reason about it." Well, what else are you doing while driving? For the most part, whatever your answer is to that question, stop it. (Reasonable exceptions apply; conversation with another in the car isn't too big a deal, of course.) Now that you're just driving and not doing anything else, you might as well be active about it and be on the lookout for long-tail risks, since really long-tail risks are all you ever have to worry about. Driving is fairly safe and almost everything that ever happens bad is long-tail in the first place or we wouldn't drive.
- chadgeidel 12y ago
  Agree 100% with "if you are doing something else while driving, stop it". I have always thought the conversation is the distracting part, not the act of holding a phone to your head. Research shows that it's less distracting to talk to a passenger than a phone conversation: http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2007/01/24/want-to-drive-safely-talking-t/ http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/2007/01/24/want-to-dr... (link in article). Still, I prefer to remain focused on the driving conditions. I'm not sure I agree that "driving is fairly safe" though. We have mitigated much of the risk associated with driving with vehicle impact standards and road design. I still really feel that most drivers don't understand the magnitude of what they are doing - they become accustomed to the relative safety and start doing other things. It seems the more safety we "build into the system" the more risks people are willing to take. I'm not suggesting we take safety out of the system though!

1123581321 12y ago

I use that technique, and during a period in which I commuted, my meditations on cars taught me to use the same principles of thorough research and prediction to analyze stocks, which worked out well. It can also apply to understanding a room of people or a crowd. Those are all situations where overconfidence can be worse than overcaution. I think defensive driving is a good way to introduce that kind of prudence to people who would otherwise not pay close attention to things because piloting an auto is frightening at first so makes a person receptive to whatever makes them safer and gives them confidence.

frogpelt 12y ago

I've heard Defensive Driving described as driving with the assumption that someone else is going to do something wrong, and to be in a position to defend yourself from that eventuality. The opposite is to drive Offensively (ha ha) which I guess is to assume that every other car will do the right thing and it's okay if I take a few risks.

jbrooksuk 12y ago
I wouldn't say that at all since you're not assuming people are going to do something wrong per-se, you're more willing to accept that a situation that looks normal is going to turn out differently and be aware of how you can avoid any driver who's going to do that stupid thing.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
Raphmedia 12y ago
I drive with the assumption that everyone else is drunk. Most friday night around here, it is true. In the morning, I drive with the assumption that everyone is half blind and too aged to drive. I work next to an eye clinic, so this is also true. Drive like everyone else is a fool and you should make it back home safe.

ahjones 12y ago

I learnt these techniques from the IAM [0] in the UK. Their manual is Roadcraft - the Police Driver's Handbook [1] which introduces techniques which I've found incredibly valuable. [0]: http://www.iam.org.uk/ http://www.iam.org.uk/ [1]: http://www.amazon.com/Roadcraft-Police-Drivers-Handbook-Foundation-ebook/dp/B00O8SQ446/ http://www.amazon.com/Roadcraft-Police-Drivers-Handbook-Foun...

mabbo 12y ago

Even beyond that, there's an overall 'field' of cars for me. Peripheral vision gets an overall sense of all cars in the proverbial neighborhood, and looks for scary patterns. Little things that seem harmless (and maybe are) put me on edge and make me guard my brake. My wife didn't understand at first, but after 12 years of driving with zero accidents, it becomes apparent that it works.

jessaustin 12y ago

...look at every car that I can see, using every gap, window, mirror etc to be aware of my surroundings. Look at people, bus stops, crossings, shops in towns etc. In my experience a shortcut to this level of awareness is to regularly cycle in commuting traffic. Not only does one notice much more, but one also notices the classes of things that it's actually impossible to notice from an autocage. (Examples: what most drivers are doing in addition to driving, where pedestrians are hiding, how a line of traffic moves through signals in fits and starts, etc.)

jbrooksuk 12y ago
I cycled 150 miles for charity once, you soon pick up on extra things - having been knocked before.