Safe Driving Practices and Defensive Driving
Domain overview
Defensive driving questions test whether you anticipate hazards rather than react late: following distance, observation, night and wet-weather driving, skid control, fatigue, alcohol and distraction.
Following distance and observation
Use the two-second rule in good conditions: pick a fixed object, and when the vehicle ahead passes it, you should not reach it for at least two seconds. At 60 km/h, two seconds is about 33 metres. Increase to three or four seconds in rain, fog or at night, and when following a heavy vehicle. Check mirrors frequently, look well ahead, and turn your head to check the blind spot before changing lanes.
Night, rain and skids
At night, dip your headlights for oncoming traffic and when following another vehicle; high beam blinds others. In fog, use low beam or fog lamps, not high beam, and reduce speed. In rain, tyres can aquaplane: ease off the accelerator and avoid sudden braking or steering. If the vehicle skids, release the accelerator, steer gently in the direction of the skid, and avoid slamming the brakes.
Fitness and distraction
Alcohol slows reaction time and judgment. The legal limit is 30 mg per 100 ml of blood, and the safest limit is zero. Stop and rest when tired; do not use a mobile phone while driving. Use the horn only to warn, not to demand priority.
Worked example
You are travelling at 60 km/h on a wet road behind a truck. Two seconds would be about 33 metres, but wet roads need at least three seconds, roughly 50 metres. Drop back, increase the gap, and avoid overtaking until visibility and road grip improve.
Traps
Braking hard during a skid, using high beam in fog, and treating the two-second rule as fixed in rain are common errors. So is assuming that having right of way removes the need to anticipate.