Defensive Driving
Defensive Driving tests whether you scan for hazards, keep space around your vehicle, and adjust for other drivers' mistakes. NY questions focus on following distance, visibility, distraction, fatigue, and the limits of right-of-way.
Core rules
- Use the three-second following rule in good conditions. Pick a fixed object, count when the vehicle ahead passes it, and ensure at least three seconds pass before you reach it. Increase the gap in rain, snow, darkness, or when following a large truck or motorcycle.
- Scan ahead and to the sides, check mirrors often, and keep an escape route. Do not stare at the vehicle directly ahead.
- Right-of-way is something you yield, not something you can enforce. Even when you have it, wait if another driver fails to yield.
- Avoid distractions: phone use, eating, grooming, and interacting with passengers. Fatigue impairs judgment like alcohol; stop and rest rather than pushing through.
- Use headlights from half an hour after sunset to half an hour before sunrise, when visibility is less than 1,000 feet, and when windshield wipers are on because of precipitation. Use low beams in fog.
- Do not use cruise control on wet or icy roads. Brake gently and steer smoothly.
Worked example
You are following a car at three seconds in heavy rain. The road is wet and visibility is reduced, so the three-second gap is no longer enough. Increase to at least six seconds. If another driver cuts into that gap, ease off and rebuild the space rather than tailgating.
Traps that cost marks
Using high beams in fog, relying on cruise control on wet pavement, and assuming another driver will obey your right-of-way. Also remember that a safe gap is measured in time, not car lengths.