Defensive driving & analysis

What does «defensive driving» mean?

Defensive driving is not slow or timid driving. It means assuming that others make mistakes – and arranging your own driving so that those mistakes do not reach you.

Someone who drives this way does not give up priority as a matter of course, but neither do they insist on it at any price. The question is not «am I in the right?», but «what happens if the other person does not react as they should?».

The four-point analysis

• Type: how are they moving? An e-scooter accelerates differently from a bicycle; a lorry needs more room.
• Age: children misjudge distances; older people need more time.
• Attention: are they looking at the traffic or at their phone? Are they wearing headphones?
• Intention: what do they appear about to do? Turned wheels, a glance over the shoulder, an indicator.

All four together give a picture – any one on its own leads to the wrong conclusion.

Anticipation: playing out the scenarios

Anticipating means running the situation forward in your mind: what could happen in the next few seconds, and what will I do then?

The ball rolling out announces the child. The stationary bus announces pedestrians. Brake lights three cars ahead announce the queue that will reach you.

Whoever has already thought the scenario through loses no time deciding: they already know what to do.

Defensive tactics in practice

• Choose speed and distance so that you could stop in an emergency.
• Cover the brake whenever a situation is unclear.
• Keep lateral clearance from cyclists, pedestrians and parked vehicles.
• Be predictable for others: signal early, no abrupt manoeuvres.
• Give up priority when insisting on it would create a hazard.

Know the limits of your own vehicle

Defensive driving includes knowing what you cannot see:

• The blind spots beside and behind the vehicle – the shoulder check remains compulsory.
• Your real braking distance with your load, your tyres and the state of the road.
• How the vehicle behaves with a trailer or a roof load.

Assistance systems help, but they do not replace this awareness.