Defensive driving: habits that keep new drivers safe

Why it matters for new drivers

Ontario’s own collision numbers show the pattern. In 2022, younger drivers were the most likely to be involved in a reported collision:

The Handbook also makes a point worth remembering: you can be found responsible for a collision you could have avoided, even if the other driver made the first mistake.

See: look far ahead and keep your eyes moving

• Look ahead to where you’ll be in the next 12 to 15 seconds in town, and 15 to 20 seconds, or as far as you can see, at highway speeds.
• Check your mirrors about every five seconds.
• Scan intersections. Before a right turn: ahead, left, right, left again, then your right-rear blind spot. Before a left turn: ahead, behind, left, right, left again, plus your blind spots. Check sidewalks and paths too.
• Expect mistakes. Watch for people in parked cars who might pull out or open a door, and assume other drivers might not stop.

Space: keep a cushion all around you

The biggest collision risk is in front of you, so following distance matters most.

1. Pick a marker ahead, like a sign or a pole.
2. When the car in front passes it, count “one thousand and one, one thousand and two.”
3. If you reach the marker before you finish, you’re too close.

Two seconds is the minimum, and only in ideal conditions. Leave more in rain, snow or fog, behind motorcycles and large trucks, or with a heavy load. The road test checklist asks for two to three seconds.

• Keep space on both sides, and stay out of other drivers’ blind spots.
• When you stop behind another car, stop where you can see its rear tires on the road. That leaves room to pull around it, and room to spare if you’re hit from behind.

Be seen and communicate

• Signal every move, early.
• Make eye contact with drivers and pedestrians at intersections.
• Use your headlights whenever visibility drops, not just at night.
• Use your horn when you need to warn someone.

Tailgaters and aggressive drivers

If someone is following too closely, give yourself more room in front, or change lanes and let them pass. Don’t speed up and don’t brake-check. If another driver threatens you, stay in your car with the doors locked, call police, and drive to a police station or a busy public place.

Match your speed to the conditions

• Drive at a speed that lets you stop safely, which often means below the limit in bad weather, heavy traffic or a construction zone.
• In rain, drive slowly enough to stop within the distance you can see. Most skids happen because a driver is going too fast for the conditions.
• At night, don’t out-drive your headlights.
• Skip cruise control on wet or icy roads, in heavy traffic, or when you’re tired.

The speed limits guide covers the limits themselves.

You: tired, distracted or impaired

• Tired: the Handbook says tired drivers can be as impaired as drunk drivers, and drowsy collisions cluster between 2 and 6 a.m. and 2 and 4 p.m. Coffee and loud music don’t replace sleep.
• Distracted: holding a phone is illegal even at a red light. The distracted driving guide explains the rules.
• Impaired: G1 and G2 drivers, and every driver 21 or under, must have zero alcohol, and zero tolerance covers cannabis too. See the alcohol and cannabis guide.

What’s behind fatal collisions

Transport Canada’s 2023 estimates of the factors involved in fatal collisions, from the provinces that report them (one collision can have several):

Every one of them is something a defensive driver controls.

Practising defensive driving

Try commentary driving: say out loud what you see and what you’d do about it. “Kids near the park, covering the brake. Car waiting to pull out on the right.” It trains your eyes to look for the next problem instead of the last one.