What are defensive driving techniques you should practice regularly?

• A. Rely solely on your brakes to avoid hazards.
• B. Exceed speed limits to reduce travel time.
• C. Ignore signs and cues.
• D. Scanning ahead, maintaining safe following distance, anticipating hazards, and maintaining lane position.

Answer: (D)

Defensive driving hinges on being proactive to reduce risk: you constantly scan the road ahead, keep a safe following distance, anticipate hazards, and stay in your lane position for stability and predictability. Scanning ahead helps you spot slow traffic, pedestrians, merging vehicles, or slick spots early, so you can adjust speed or lane position calmly rather than reacting at the last second. Maintaining a safe following distance gives you time to brake smoothly and avoid rear-end collisions if something unexpected occurs. Anticipating hazards means thinking ahead about how others might behave—like a car signaling late or a lane change—and adjusting early to keep space and reduce surprise. Maintaining lane position helps you steer smoothly and stay predictable to other drivers, which reduces the chance of sideswipes.

Relying only on braking is unsafe because you still need space and time to react; pushing speed to cut travel time increases stopping distance and reduces control; ignoring signs and cues removes important information about road conditions and traffic patterns. Regularly practicing these techniques keeps you safer by actively managing speed, space, and awareness.