Defensive Driving Tip #39: Drive Your Van Safely In a defensive driving class you would learn that vans are involved in collisions at a higher rate than passenger sedans. You should think about the reasons why, especially if you drive a van infrequently and are less experienced in their characteristics. The most common van mishaps stem from backing unsafely, stopping, … Read More

Defensive Driving Tip #38: Don’t Prevent Others from Passing Defensive driving encompasses many different ideas and practices, one of which is understanding the effects your driving may have on others, and the results this can have on your safety and theirs. In my state of Arizona, there is a law that if another driver approaching from your rear signals by … Read More

Defensive Driving Tip #37: Practice Animal Avoidance! As we are now into the autumn migratory season, it’s time to talk about defensive driving and wildlife avoidance. Car/animal collisions are a problem across the United States. You might be surprised to learn that over a half million car/animal collisions occur every year! While deer are the most common animal struck, others, … Read More

Defensive Driving Tip # 36: Beware of Stopped or Slow-Moving Vehicles Be cautious when passing stopped or slow-moving vehicles. They often hide dangers that are not immediately apparent. The first defensive driving  rule is to ask yourself is why? Why is the vehicle moving slowly, or why is it stopped? This defensive driving rule is about patience, courtesy and taking … Read More

Defensive Driving Tip #35: Never Play Chicken With a Train   We know that injuries and fatalities that occur at highway-rail crossings or on railroad property are a real, but often preventable, problem. Few people realize that in America, a person or vehicle is hit by a train roughly every three hours, and that’s a reality we’re determined to change. I … Read More

Defensive Driving Tip #34: Deal With Light Glare   Many of us have seen the old WWII submarine movies (like “Das Boot”) where the officers don dark goggles and the sub’s interior lights are dimmed to red, in order to protect the night vision of the officers and “lookouts.” This was a matter of life and death — a few … Read More

Defensive Driving Tip #33: Avoid the Single-Vehicle Collision When thinking about defensive driving many people think about what the most “dangerous” collision is, they don’t always come up with the correct answer on first guess. Many think it is the “T-Bone” (a 90 degree impact at an intersection), or a head-on. These are serious collisions, and along with rear-end collisions, … Read More

Defensive Driving Tip #32:    I was driving from Phoenix to Willams, one evening, on one of the most dangerous stretches of highway in Arizona. I was passed — across double yellow lines — by a delivery truck (similar to a large U-Haul or Ryder rental truck). I was doing the speed limit, or close to it. He passed in … Read More

Defensive Driving Tip #31: Avoid Head-On Collisions As a defensive driving instructor a head-on collision is the worst crash most of us can think of. Thankfully, they are relatively rare. Still, you should be prepared for one. A young mother was on an Arizona highway, with her sister and her child. She had great visibility. In front of her was smooth, … Read More

Defensive Driving Tip #30: Know How To Recover From A Skid         What’s the best defensive driving way not to get into a skid? Avoid it in the first place! One of the best ways to avoid trouble on the road (not just skids) is to drive smoothly. True professionals drive so seamlessly that you do not … Read More