In our society (at least in America) there is the fundamental belief that defensive driving (and only defensive driving) is the way to go . I would like to hear your thoughts on this subject Hubsky.
This is entered my thoughts this afternoon because of the Google car crash incident.
For people riding motorcycles, defensive driving is a must for the sake of your survival, while offensively driving is guaranteed to cause bad problems, accidents or death. The time you spend pissed off at how other people are driving is time you should instead be spending on keeping yourself safe and upright. You're on a motorcycle, body exposed to traffic as if you're naked, no protection besides the lightweight armor in your clothes and a helmet: your indignation/need to be right vs a car/truck weighing several tons? No contest.
Aware driving is the best. That means always being constantly looking at your surrounding landscape and vehicles and trying to anticipate what they might do, knowing what is coming up ahead that you can prepare for that. For example, if you are on a busy highway and the person in front of you is nervous on the brakes, you get away from them. Or trying to gauge to surface grip you have. It also means keeping your vehicle in good shape so it can perform at its best eg. clearing the dashboard so nothing is reflecting against the glass and you have a clear view. And then you act accordingly. Usually that means defensive driving but there are times when you have to be aggressive by, for example, accelerating out of a situation instead of braking into it. Or getting away from the cops!
This is exactly what I am referring to. Thank you Canadian. Aggressive driving is often categorized as offensive driving. This isthe point i was trying to make.
Defensive driving is protecting yourself from other drivers. Offensive drivers is requiring other drivers to protect themselves from you. The true downside of offensive driving is you have to accept a baseline of competence in order for it to work and there are plenty of people who are below your predicted baseline. Trust me, I've done 30,000 miles on motorcycles and I've seen it all. Driving like a jackass on the assumption that others will make way effectively puts your safety and well-being in the hands of people you don't like or trust. That's a losing proposition, as you will find out with time. I can be an aggressive driver. I strenuously avoid impacting the driving experience of anyone not directly attempting to fuck with me in traffic, however. That's just a dick move.
Maybe I'm not being clear in what I mean by offensive driving. I mean that it is important to know how to use offensive driving to get you out of situations in which a typical defensive driver doesn't have the experience to know how to get out of. Most people simply turn the wheel or accept that they are about to get hit. In fact, I was just hearing the other day about how most people who are about to crash into something don't even hit the breaks. I don't remember where I saw it. I will look for a link. Offensive drivers learn skills in driving that defensive drivers have never experienced and have no way of replicating due to lack of experience.
There are times when you have to be aggressive by, for example, accelerating out of a situation instead of braking into it. Aware driving is best. Smooth is my key word.
Smooth driving is not defensive driving. Smooth driving is a central concept in pro driving schools (like apex, speed and braking control, situational awareness). To be a good driver (eg. both to yourself and others) you should always aspire to never brake or veer too hard unless you have to. The best drivers I have been with in cars at relatively normal highway speeds give an almost 0 G experience unless they want you to or it is necessary. I doubt too many Maybachs or Bugattis on the Autobahn are not driving smooth. That being said sometimes it does not seem smooth but very aggressive as the best F1, Rally or Isle of Man TT, etc. They do not seem smooth to the regular eye on the track at all but they are super smooth or they would not be able to do what they do. And on the street they would absolutely be 0 G if they wanted to be that smooth.
What I mean is that people aren't taught how to handle situations when they arise. People are taught to simply avoid those and hope for the best.
Right - but what you mean is factually wrong. Check it out: defensive driving is actually defined by the government. Here's the meat of it: People who have been taught to drive defensively are those that have been taught situational awareness and the art of maintaining vehicular agility. In other words, the act of "defensive driving" means the literal opposite of what you think it means.Its aim is to reduce the risk of collision by anticipating dangerous situations, despite adverse conditions or the mistakes of others. This can be achieved through adherence to a variety of general guidelines, such as following the assured clear distance ahead and two second rules, as well as the practice of specific driving techniques.
So what you are telling me is that no one is taught defensive driving either. Great. That makes me feel better :p
No, what I'm telling you is that there are clueless idiots in the world not through philosophy but through cluelessness. Your discussion is ostensibly about "defensive driving" vs. "offensive driving" but as you defined the terms, "defensive driving" means "bad driving" and "offensive driving" means "everything else" which is not a useful discussion to have.
That's not my intention at all. If you have a problem with anything I am doing you may feel free to contact me in private as you are now bordering on directly attacking me. I did not say that defensive driving is bad, you did. Albeit from my imagined perspective. Don't put words in my mouth. If you want to troll, go back to Reddit.
Maybe he would feel better off I reworded it to say passive driving vs aggressive driving? Lol
I become a very angry person on the road. People who are on their cell phones make me wish I had missiles on my car that I could shoot and blow them up. Swerving all over the road, going slow, speeding past people and then cutting them off and slowing down. Just last week, I'm driving along, actually going the speed limit for once, when a dude blows a red light in an intersection and nearly T-bones my passenger side, where my girlfriend is sitting. Since I'm actually paying attention, I stopped and he finally gets his shit together and stops in the middle of the intersection, blocking the two perpendicular lanes which have a green light. I'm on the horn, tossing my hands up and shit. Dude's on a phone, of course, and waves some apology and points to his phone like it's an excuse as he backs up. So we keep going. Finally, guy's brain registers that he's angry and I see him take the corner and speed up in the lane adjacent me. He's yelling something, trying to get me to roll my window down and I'm just sitting here confused. How the hell are you pissed at me when you just about killed at least one of us? Anyhow, I didn't have any missiles and he went away. Probably forgot why he was yelling at me. There's not really a point to my story, except fuck that guy and his stupid cell phone.
I so have been there. Hmmm missiles... Good idea! Wtb. Part of the problem is that different states have different social understandings of what is right and wrong. For instance, in my state (Minnesota) it is socially acceptable and encouraged to merge at the end of the merging lane even when going from 3 lanes of traffic down to 2 during construction. Some people get pissed and this but it's socially acceptable here. In some states of socially not acceptable to intentionally not allow someone to change lanes in front of you if they have their blinker on even if they were being an asshat. You can actually get a ticket for not showing down and letting them over. And actually in some places both people on aforementioned situation can get a ticket. One for cutting the other of and the other for trying not to let them in.
In all the places I've driven around, the Southern states have been the kindest about letting people over, generally not being an ass, etc. Florida, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Indiana are all hell. Haven't been out west/southwest. I tend to let people out/over if I can see they're postured like they're "asking" instead of "demanding" to be let out/over. If you want to be a dick, I'm going to go out of my way to screw you over. However, if you're being a normal human being, I'll do what I can to squeeze you in where I safely can.
Unfortunately, that's generally unsafe and can lead to both accidents and road rage. Most of the times it's better to just swallow your pride than to try than to "teach someone a lesson."If you want to be a dick, I'm going to go out of my way to screw you over.
Yep! It's probably going to be my downfall. I don't claim to be right. I totally agree with you and in every other situation I'm very easy-going, but something about shitty drivers drives me up a wall.
Well put. However isn't this the same douchebaggery we all hate to see? Also not all people know how to posture or understand the basic concept of posturing for a purpose. I agree with your concept. I just feel that it perpetuates the wrong idea to those who aren't capable of grasping the point you are trying to get across. That being said, I do same thing sometimes. It just feels so good but it's self-righteous and I feel the need to chastise myself for doing so.
Yeah, agreed. It'll bite me one day, I'm sure. I'm trying not to let it bother me but it's surprisingly difficult to ignore pure stupidity or willful ignorance.
While defensive driving is safer (since you just try not to be put in situations where you are likely to get hit) I feel that offensive driving is important too. There are going to be times in life when defensive driving isn't going to cut it and your only option is to drive offensively. However, without being taught how to drive offensively, or learning it on your own, you won't know what to do when you are put in these situations. Therefore, I feel it is important to learn Learn and utilize both methods.