Most drivers think they are both safer and more skillful than the average driver. In more than 95% of traffic accidents, that have either culminated in deaths or injuries on Nigerian roads, Human error has been the cause as accidents do not occur by chance, as they are the consequences of unsafe driving practices.
Ideally, good driving is the effective and efficient operation of a vehicle with precision, intense concentration and awareness while anticipating danger and mistakes from other road users thus leaving a comfortable margin for safety. In other words, it requires the intelligent handling of a vehicle in such a manner that you avoid getting involved in a preventable collision (accident) or contribute to a collision course between others.
The driving lesson is only the start. It gets one on the road and hopefully keeps one on the road for the rest of one’s life. But that doesn’t mean we cannot improve as we go along.
Conditions for driving are constantly changing. Roads are becoming busier. Car technology moves on so rapidly. And even people are experiencing hanging driving conditions in their own areas.
Good drivers drive with care, putting into consideration abnormal, unusual or changing conditions at all times, reading the road ahead to scan for potential hazards presented by careless, unskilled, reckless and thoughtless actions or other road users thus adjusting their driving to those hazards and knowing what to do as well as acting correctly in time before a situation gets out of control.
Good drivers have a quite efficiency in their actions and this derives from:
- A good level of attention.
- Accurate observation
- Matching the vehicle’s speed and direction to the situation.
- Awareness of the hazards inherent in particular road and traffic situations.
- Acting to keep identified risks to a minimum.
- Awareness of their own limitations and those of the vehicle and roads.
- Skillful use of vehicle controls.
