Whether you earned your driver’s license last week or twenty years ago, it’s never too late to brush up on your driving habits. Defensive driving is widely considered the go-to way to handle yourself when you’re driving a motor vehicle. Here are our driving do’s and don’ts to make you a better defensive driver!

Do: Pay Attention

The number-one tip holds its place for a reason: there is nothing more important when you are driving than paying attention. We all know that driving can be boring sometimes – especially on long road trips or daily hour-long commutes. It can also be full of distractions: kids chattering and calling for your attention in the back seat, your front-seat passenger trying to show you a funny image someone sent them on Facebook, phones going off, GPS’s recalculating, you name it.

Despite all of this, and despite how difficult it can be to maintain laser-focus on the road and what you’re doing when you’re driving, in order to be a defensive driver, you should give it your best effort. Pay attention to the road in front of you, to pedestrians on the sidewalks, to animals that could jump in front of your car, to any potential risks during your commute. Even if you’re only driving just down the road, don’t let yourself zone out – you’d be surprised how many accidents happen within blocks of home.

Don’t: Drive Distracted

There are a lot of things we all tend to do while driving that are distracting – and are therefore a risk to our ability to properly focus on the road. Whatever your guilty bad habit is, you should genuinely work to eliminate it. Texting, reading messages, making phone calls, eating, applying makeup, playing mobile games – you know who you are!

It isn’t a matter of how good a driver you are – it only takes a few seconds of having your eyes off the road for a collision or traffic accident to occur. Almost anything you can do while driving can wait until you are parked somewhere safe. If it can’t wait, pull over and turn off your vehicle.

Do: Keep a ‘Safety First’ Mentality

From checking seat belts, locking car doors, and maintaining your vehicle properly, to making sure a vehicle with their turn signal on is really slowing down and turning before you pull out in front of them – a safety-first mentality is the hallmark of defensive driving. Do not ever assume that other drivers are following all the rules of the road or that you can trust them to avoid an accident.

Additionally, you want an emergency road kit in your car at all times: keeping your car stocked on car fluids, a spare tire, a flashlight, flares, water, and a warm blanket in the event you are stranded in dangerous weather conditions might save your life!

Don’t: Ignore the Rules of the Road

This may seem pretty obvious, but we’re including it here just in case: don’t break the law. Not even if you are 100% confident that you ‘know what you’re doing’ and that nothing bad will happen. It will. Don’t tailgate, don’t fail to signal when navigating traffic, don’t engage in road rage, don’t drink and drive, and don’t become a danger to yourself and others on the road.

The basic do’s and don’ts you learn from your parents, your driving manuals, and driver’s ed can keep you safe – but only if you learn them and follow them! Safe driving techniques are critical to ensuring you are less likely to be involved in a traffic collision – and will keep traffic citations from piling up in your glovebox.

Defensive Driving: the Do’s and Don’ts