Defensive driving skills
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The other day, hubby & I were in our car on our way back from grocery shopping. It was a little wet on the roads, and we noticed that a car in the left lane next to us suddenly jammed their brakes. The car behind it was travelling at quite a high speed, and would've langa the car in front, if not for the driver's quick thinking - he swerved into our lane (middle) and onto the next lane (right) (luckily there was no car behind us or on the right lane! else sure kena accident) and hit the curb.
Wah... that was quick thinking, man! If it was me behind the wheel, dunno whether I'd be so quick to react or not.
Those of you who are drivers, share some of your defensive driving skills in here?
I wanna learn! 
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The safetest way would be.....
don't drive at all
I hav no idea man.. I don't drive. -
defensive riding i know, driving... ehhhhh i learnt a little only.
1) Basics, keep your safety distance.
2) I know it doesn't sound really logical but prepare for the unexpected.
3) If your wheel locks when you brake to hard, release and depress the brakes again.
4) You're not a drifter, so when you jam your brakes and start sliding on wet ground you'll slide in that direction, nothing can stop you. Turning the wheel like Initial D isn't going to help much since its wet ground.
Then again when I went through the defensive riding course, we were told to put our bikes into a slide and maintain our balance. The instructors there said to us, no slide no cert. -
Thanks, kopiosatu! I didn't know about the steering wheel locking thing.
When you skid, which way should you turn your wheel? In the direction where the car is skidding, and try to brake gently and steer it back to the direction you wanna go or... ? This is s'thing I've learned before but kept forgetting!
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Not steering wheel lock, is just the wheel locking when you brake too hard. I would recommend intermittent braking combined with engine brake, I use it alot and it slows the vehicle down faster.Originally posted by SydneyLibrarian:Thanks, kopiosatu! I didn't know about the steering wheel locking thing.
When you skid, which way should you turn your wheel? In the direction where the car is skidding, and try to brake gently and steer it back to the direction you wanna go or... ? This is s'thing I've learned before but kept forgetting!
on wet ground, it's not going to help much where you're turning your wheel. Is you really wanna try bringing your car to face the front, do so by turning the wheel to the direction you want it to face. Smashing into another car head on is better than smashing into it from the side.
Ok this is what i experienced when i was going through the lesson. Speeding down fast, wet ground... jam the brakes hard, the car will start sliding, sometimes to the side. If you try steering it back, the most you can do by controlling the steering wheel is that the back of the car stops sliding to the front. -
OK, I haven't learnt how to drive yet, but SL and kopiosatu, I found your posts interesting!
I'm going to be a bimbo here and scream, 'Initial D!! D for Drifting, yeeeeaaaah!!' 
kopiosatu, the course you attended on defensive driving, was it here in Singapore? -
Originally posted by kopiosatu:
this is infact very dangerous if you do this when your car is equipped with ABS and auto transmission.
Not steering wheel lock, is just the wheel locking when you brake too hard. I would recommend intermittent braking combined with engine brake, I use it alot and it slows the vehicle down faster.
Intermittent braking is only for cars w/o ABS. those cars with ABS, you need to slam onto the brake and hug it to the floor.
best is don't tailgate.... coz, be it smashing to front or side. you confirm will lugi money. (health issues apart)... and besides, only an idiot will tailgate someone when it's raining or road is wet.
on wet ground, it's not going to help much where you're turning your wheel. Is you really wanna try bringing your car to face the front, do so by turning the wheel to the direction you want it to face. Smashing into another car head on is better than smashing into it from the side.
You are supposed to be at least 4 car lengths away if it's really a wet road.
IF you think it's ridiculous, then tell me that again after you skidded and smash another car's backside. remember, ego don't save lives and money.
all cars steerring have direction derivation and depending on weight and yaw, it will skid accordingly. I would suggest people not familiar with defensive driving, is to prevent such skidding situations in the first place.. i.e. don't be an idiot and speed towards bends / make sudden lane changes when your tyre can't hold ground. If you are running on silent/comfort tyres, chances are, you WILL skid too on dry days - even at relatively low speed.
Ok this is what i experienced when i was going through the lesson. Speeding down fast, wet ground... jam the brakes hard, the car will start sliding, sometimes to the side. If you try steering it back, the most you can do by controlling the steering wheel is that the back of the car stops sliding to the front.[/b] -
given the way my mum drives, everyone else needs defensive driving skills
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then it's for the greater good that you declare the license plate number and frequented locations.Originally posted by bismarck:given the way my mum drives, everyone else needs defensive driving skills 
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mostly, know where you are in respect to everything around you.. keep a safe distance and know the limitations of yourself and your car...
i remember some morons in another thread saying that they "do not tailgate" and they only follow people along the expressway with a distance of 3 metres
well, remember the 2-second rule... at any speed, be a minimum of 2 seconds behind the car you're following... and if you feel not up to it, make it 3 seconds...
everything else, hmm.. comes with experience... -
too add on to whatever the above people have said... you must never forget the first thing i mentioned.
1) Basics, keep your safety distance. -
I've never driven ABS every in my life before, so far i've been providing my own ABSOriginally posted by ronnie_2600:this is infact very dangerous if you do this when your car is equipped with ABS and auto transmission.
Intermittent braking is only for cars w/o ABS. those cars with ABS, you need to slam onto the brake and hug it to the floor. -
Driving schools also apply the 1 car length every 10km/h... which is totally stupid. Like this you'll never reach your destination.Originally posted by the Bear:mostly, know where you are in respect to everything around you.. keep a safe distance and know the limitations of yourself and your car...
i remember some morons in another thread saying that they "do not tailgate" and they only follow people along the expressway with a distance of 3 metres
well, remember the 2-second rule... at any speed, be a minimum of 2 seconds behind the car you're following... and if you feel not up to it, make it 3 seconds...
everything else, hmm.. comes with experience... -
the way some of the maniacs i've seen drive, it would be a great ideaOriginally posted by kopiosatu:Driving schools also apply the 1 car length every 10km/h... which is totally stupid. Like this you'll never reach your destination.
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great idea for the maniacs to apply it so they'll never reach their destination?Originally posted by the Bear:the way some of the maniacs i've seen drive, it would be a great idea -
Ur in Oz rite? I think they may have defensive driving course organised by Prodrive.
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alot of times, have to experience in order to prevent. Or u have quick reflects....
i used to slide/drift always every months without failed a few years back, until no feeling leow....
jam brake on a wet surface, doing a 180 on the road also quick interesting.... ...but not for the faint hearted.
basically drive slow and keep distance. when in doubt slow down.
easy say than done for me. ..... -
tat is not defensive driving, tat is reactive drivingOriginally posted by SydneyLibrarian:The other day, hubby & I were in our car on our way back from grocery shopping. It was a little wet on the roads, and we noticed that a car in the left lane next to us suddenly jammed their brakes. The car behind it was travelling at quite a high speed, and would've langa the car in front, if not for the driver's quick thinking - he swerved into our lane (middle) and onto the next lane (right) (luckily there was no car behind us or on the right lane! else sure kena accident) and hit the curb.
Wah... that was quick thinking, man! If it was me behind the wheel, dunno whether I'd be so quick to react or not.
Those of you who are drivers, share some of your defensive driving skills in here? I wanna learn! 
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actually, reactive driving (whatever you called it)... where you swerve your car to avoid the car infront.. can be fatal.
just imagine you are lucky enough to have 2 morons on the same highway (on both sides of the 3-lane road) doing the same thing (e-brake) but one of them is just 1 lane adjacent to you...
both drivers tailing the cars (morons) will 'react' and swerve to the 'open' lane in the center..... and you know.... banging human heads together at a small distance is already very painful... try that at 90km/hr with steel monsters. -
I'm with ronnie on this one - common sense and maintaining awareness of your environment is the best form of defensive driving.
I'm no fan of either auto or ABS. In my earlier days when I was stupid enough to take 50 km/h curves at 150, the ability to lock the front wheels was definitely an appreciated feature when the back snapped out.
Besides, the function of ABS is to prevent yawing when the wheels are locked up in the wet. If your suspension isn't in top shape, especially the bushings, the car's going to go all funny anyway. -
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The two Golden Rules I follow whenever I drive:
1. Always maintain a safe following distance.
2. Always assume the other driver is female.
Not a single accident in my over 20 years of driving in Singapore and the U.S., so those rules must be working!
MG -
rule no.2... them are fightin' words
but seriously, i got 2 experiences which scared the heck outta me..
one was when i was taking the driving test.. silly lady decided that she had right of way when turning at a cross junction when i was going straight on the opposite side.. she went, the tester screamed in panic, i jammed on the brakes, the tester pulled the handbrake and then failed me...
strange thing is that he had the audacity to fail me when i did the right thing.. the car was still running and had not stalled.. he said he pulled the brakes.. if he had caused the car to stop, the car would have stalled... oh well.. arguing never got me anywhere at the test place except marked for failure the next test..
the other incident was in melbourne... when this girl saw a possum on the road, she screamed in panic, took her hands off the steering wheel and covered her eyes... i had to hold on to the steering wheel, and tell her to get over it and pull over so i could drive instead
oh well.. i'm still alive and glad of itOriginally posted by Meia Gisborn:The two Golden Rules I follow whenever I drive:
1. Always maintain a safe following distance.
2. Always assume the other driver is female.
Not a single accident in my over 20 years of driving in Singapore and the U.S., so those rules must be working!
MG -
Wow... thanks, everyone, for your interesting contributions! Can learn alot from ppl in this thread
Yo MG, I'm female, but I understand what you mean about women drivers, some of them are just the worst I have met on the roads! Once, there was a long traffic jam on our way home. Caused by... you guessed it... a woman driver who was doing 40km in an 80 zone!! 
Having said that, though, I think my mum's the best female driver I've ever met... better than quite alot of people I know!
Old men drivers can sometimes be dangerous as well... once, I had to literally pull a friend away from a car as the driver wasn't looking at where he was reversing... nearly knocked my friend over!!
Still on the topic of cars, though, does anyone know the correct tyre pressure for a toyota corolla? Am confused whether front tyres should pump higher than back tyres or not... some people say front should be more (e.g. 32 for front, 30 for back), but some say otherwise. I'm so confused till I pump all the same pressure! -
not sure if it's the same down under but check with the maker of the tyres + the recommendations which are on the door of the carOriginally posted by SydneyLibrarian:Still on the topic of cars, though, does anyone know the correct tyre pressure for a toyota corolla? Am confused whether front tyres should pump higher than back tyres or not... some people say front should be more (e.g. 32 for front, 30 for back), but some say otherwise. I'm so confused till I pump all the same pressure!