Defensive driving is best described as

• A. Driving at maximum speed to reduce exposure
• B. The technique of avoiding dangerous situations by anticipating hazards caused by other people, weather and road conditions.
• C. Relying on vehicle safety features alone
• D. Ignoring weather and road conditions

Answer: (B)

Defensive driving is about being proactive and managing risk on the road. It means continuously scanning for potential hazards and predicting problems from other drivers, pedestrians, weather, and road conditions, then adjusting speed, following distance, and lane position to avoid those dangers before they become incidents. This approach lowers exposure and gives you time to react if something unexpected happens.

The other ideas miss the core idea: rushing to go faster doesn’t reduce risk and can increase it; relying only on a vehicle’s safety features ignores the driver’s responsibility to anticipate and adapt; and ignoring weather or road conditions is dangerous and contrary to defensive practice.