Safe Driving Habits: Defensive Driving, SIPDE, Stress, Fatigue, Illness, Aggression, Scanning, Mirrors, Stopping and Following Distance: What Shapes a Driver's Attitude, the National Safety Council Guidelines and *LSP, the Five SIPDE Steps, Alertness, Anticipation, Judgment and Skill, Driving Under Stress, Fatigue and Highway Hypnosis, Drowsy Driving and Its Warning Signs, Illness and Medicines, Aggressive Driving and Road Rage, Looking 20 to 30 Seconds Ahead, 359 Feet at 60 mph, Intersections and Left-Right-Left, Lane Changes and the 4- to 5-Second Gap, Enhanced Mirror Settings, Perception, Reaction and Braking Distance, Doubling Speed Quadruples Impact, the Three-Second Rule and When Four Seconds Are Needed
Written for aiforu2 as the source for a practice-test bank and the on-device tutor for the Louisiana Class E knowledge test. The facts follow the official manual; the wording is ours.
Source: Louisiana Class D & E Driver's Guide (OMV, R08/25 edition), Chapter 5 "Safe Driving Habits", "Driving Behavior" through "Following Distances" (pages 54–66).
Driving behavior and defensive driving
Demographics, personality, development, environment, the driving environment and driving ability together decide whether a driver is courteous and law-abiding or a tailgating, speeding, unbelted hazard. Defensive driving is a proactive attitude that anticipates hazards rather than reacting, knowing your own and your vehicle's limits and watching the other driver. The National Safety Council's guidelines: secure every passenger, children and pets included, before starting; lock the doors; remember that driving too fast or too slow invites collisions; designate a sober driver, since alcohol figures in almost half of fatal crashes; watch for straddling, weaving, wide turns, abrupt stops or slow responses that signal an impaired driver, and avoid such a driver by turning right at the nearest corner or taking the next exit; if an oncoming car drifts into your lane, pull over, sound the horn and flash your lights; report suspicious or reckless drivers to police at **\*LSP (\577)*; and never contest the right-of-way or race a merge.
SIPDE and the four characteristics
SIPDE: Sweep, search and scan with your eyes always moving; Identify hazards and roadway features; Predict which could conflict with you, both the worst case and your actions; Decide on a safe action; Execute the move by braking, accelerating or turning. Defensive driving also saves fuel, lowers insurance premiums and extends the vehicle's life. Its four essentials are alertness (rested, sober, attentive), anticipation (a safe following distance and expecting others' mistakes), judgment (never over the limit, slower in bad weather, no racing lights or trains, passing only when safe) and skill (aware of the blind spot of the vehicle ahead, scanning, undistracted, disciplined). A careful, law-abiding driver lowers the crash rate more than any safety feature.
Stress, fatigue and drowsiness
Even mild emotion can make you temporarily collision-prone. Driving mixes predictable events with unpredictable incidents, near-misses and insults, and its freedom collides with regulation and congestion; if you are worried, nervous, angry, frustrated or depressed, let someone else drive. Driving is tiring work, fatigue impairs vision and judgment like alcohol and drugs, and a driver should rest every two hours and drive no more than six to eight hours a day; fatigue slows reaction, erodes concentration and can bring dozing; fight it with a break at a rest area, coffee, gum, the radio and fresh air. Boredom on long interstate drives brings highway hypnosis, dulled senses with eyes fixed on the road; prevent it by starting rested, avoiding drowsy drugs, not driving late at night, taking regular stops, moving your eyes near and far and left and right, opening a window and keeping the car cool, and if nothing works, get off and nap. Drowsy driving caused over 72,000 crashes; such crashes tend to happen late at night or early in the morning, be serious, involve a single vehicle leaving a high-speed road, a driver who never tried to avoid it, and a driver alone. Prevent it by starting rested, avoiding the body's natural sleep hours, setting realistic travel goals, eating healthy meals rather than fat and sugar, avoiding alcohol and drugs, switching drivers every two hours, stopping every two hours to stretch, drinking water or low-sugar, low-caffeine drinks (sugar and caffeine give short-term alertness then more drowsiness), keeping the cabin cool, listening to talk radio rather than music, and limiting driving between midnight and 6 a.m. Warning signs: not recalling the last few miles, trouble focusing or keeping the eyes open, drifting from the lane, wandering thoughts, a heavy head, missed signs, repeated yawning and tailgating. Young men 16 to 29 and shift workers are most at risk.
Illness and medicines
Conditions such as post-surgical anesthesia can be temporary, others permanent. Over-the-counter remedies for headaches, colds, allergies and nerves cause drowsiness, and pep pills, uppers and diet pills cause nervousness, dizziness, poor concentration and vision trouble; prescription antidepressants, pain relievers, sleep aids and sedatives affect reflexes, judgment, vision and alertness like alcohol; read labels and ask a doctor or pharmacist. Conditions that may affect driving include blackouts or fainting, vision problems, heart disease, epilepsy, sleep disorders, diabetes, psychiatric and neurological disorders and age-related decline; they may mean more doctor visits or restrictions to daylight, corrective lenses or familiar roads, and you must disclose them honestly at licensing. Commercial drivers face higher medical standards, and an ID card is available to those who give up driving.
Aggressive driving and road rage
Aggressive driving is an offense or combination of offenses such as following too closely, speeding, unsafe lane changes and failing to signal, and speeding, running lights, cutting in front of trucks and weaving through their blind spots create deadly situations. Keep control by allowing plenty of time, accepting that you can only react to traffic, staying polite, avoiding peak congestion, calling ahead when late, not driving angry or tired, giving others the benefit of the doubt, relaxing your posture and jaw, and remembering driving is not a contest. Facing an aggressive driver, avoid eye contact, give room, stay calm, get out of the way without escalating, swallow your pride and do not speed up or hold your position, ignore and never return gestures, keep anger from building, disconnect emotionally, put distance between you, and never tailgate or punish with the horn. If the driver persists, do not stop at the roadside; drive to a police station or a busy public place, and never drive home while followed. Road rage is a criminal offense in which an incident escalates into violence, from confrontation to assault with a vehicle or weapon. Its actions include horn blowing, pursuit, flashing lights, forcing a car off the road or over, verbal abuse and gestures, bumping, tailgating, threats, brake-checking, deliberate damage and obstruction, assault and cutting off. Avoid it by staying calm, keeping distance, staying alert, cooperating and keeping a relaxing car; report aggressive driving to law enforcement. Tailgating is a common crash cause avoided simply by moving right and letting the faster driver pass, and speeding saves only minutes while stealing reaction time.
Looking and scanning ahead
Your line of sight is the visible path down the road; looking 20 to 30 seconds ahead rather than right in front of the car gives time to prepare and keeps a steadier path, and when a curve, hill or vehicle blocks the view, slow down. Look for vehicles entering, turning or braking, and expect a light that has been green a long time to change. Acting early lets drivers behind react calmly. To measure your look-ahead, pick a fixed object as far ahead as you can see and count the seconds until you reach it; a visual lead of 20 to 30 seconds lets you spot changes and alternatives. Stopping takes longer than most realize even with good tires, brakes and dry pavement: at 60 mph about 4 to 5 seconds or 359 feet, at 30 mph about 2 to 3 seconds or 123 feet; at 60 mph you need to see at least 400 feet ahead and at 30 mph at least 150 feet. Look to the sides for anyone about to cross your path, especially at intersections and railroad crossings. Intersections include cross streets, side streets, driveways and parking-lot entrances; approaching one, check oncoming and cross traffic, other users, control devices, limited visibility and the road surface; look front, left and right, and when stopped look left, right and left again; never trust signals to keep others out, especially just after a green when cross traffic hurries through; make sure the whole path is clear so you will not block the intersection; and if your view is blocked, edge forward slowly so crossing drivers see your front before you see them. Watch the sides near shopping centers, parking lots, construction, busy sidewalks, playgrounds and schoolyards. Turning left, pull into the intersection ready to turn, wait for a safe gap, yield to oncoming vehicles going straight or turning right, and make sure nothing will strand you in the oncoming path; turning right, check for traffic from the left, oncoming left-turners and crossing pedestrians. At railroad crossings slow at the round sign and look both ways. Look to the rear more often in heavy traffic and before changing lanes, slowing, entering from the roadside or descending a long hill, when vehicles behind gain speed. To change lanes (including merging from a ramp, a yield intersection, the curb or shoulder), keep a safe following distance, check the rearview and side mirrors for vehicles in or entering the lane and anyone about to pass, check the blind spot by turning your head and looking over your shoulder without looking too long, find a 4- to 5-second gap, signal, look again, adjust speed, steer over and cancel the signal. Use the mirrors whenever you slow, especially at driveways and parking spaces, and on long or steep downgrades watch for trucks and buses gaining speed. Drive with active attention.
Mirrors and blind spots
Blind spots are the areas your mirrors cannot show. Society of Automotive Engineers research recommends setting the side mirrors as far outward as possible so their view just overlaps the center mirror's: frame the rear window with the inside mirror; put your head against the driver's window and adjust the driver's mirror until you barely see the car's side; move your head to the center of the car and adjust the passenger's mirror the same way; then test by watching a passing car, which should appear in the side mirror before leaving the center mirror and in your peripheral vision before leaving the side mirror. The center mirror remains the primary mirror.
Stopping distance
Perception distance is how far you travel from seeing a hazard to recognizing it, about ¾ second to 1 second for an alert driver; reaction distance is the travel before you hit the brakes, another ¾ to 1 second, about 55 feet at 50 mph; braking distance at 50 mph on dry pavement with good brakes is about 158 feet; and the total at 50 mph is at least 268 feet. Doubling speed from 20 to 40 mph makes impact and braking distance four times greater; tripling to 60 mph, nine times, with a stopping distance longer than a football field; and 80 mph is 16 times 20 mph. Stopping distance depends on your reaction time, weather and road conditions, vehicle weight, brakes and tires.
Following distance
Use the three-second rule at any speed: pick an object ahead, start counting "one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand, three-one-thousand" as the vehicle ahead passes it, and if you pass it in under three seconds, drop back and count again until you are at least three seconds back. Use four seconds in bad weather or on wet pavement, and drop back when another vehicle cuts into your gap. More space is needed on slippery roads; when the driver behind wants to pass (slow down to make room and finish the pass sooner); behind motorcycles, which can fall, especially on wet, icy, gravel or metal surfaces; behind trucks, buses, vans and trailers whose drivers cannot see you and which block your view; when you are being followed closely (pull right and let them pass); when pulling a trailer; in low visibility; behind emergency vehicles; behind vehicles that must stop at railroad crossings such as transit buses, school buses and hazardous-materials carriers; and when stopped on a hill, since the vehicle ahead may roll back.
Practise this with Louisiana Driver License questions
More of this guide
Who needs a Louisiana license, Classes A–E and the TIP, fees, primary and secondary documents, the R.Y.A.N. Act's three stages with its 50 practice hours and 11 p.m. curfew, the 20/40 vision test, the 80 percent knowledge and road tests, six-year renewal, records and revocation.
Interstate numbering, sign shapes and colors including fluorescent pink incident signs, warning and regulatory signs, the 200-foot shared center lane, guide and service signs, work zones, every traffic light and arrow, yellow and white lines, railroad markings, crosswalks and roundabouts.
The three collisions, belts front and back, child seats from rear-facing to age 13, air bags and the 9-and-3 hand position, active and passive safety, weekly checks, oversteer and understeer, the four steering methods, cornering and driving through the four seasons.
Three-point turnabouts, the parking brake, hill parking, angle and parallel parking, every no-parking distance and curb color, passing on the left within 100 feet, backing, hydroplaning at 35 and 55 mph, headlights and dimming, pedestrians and white canes, texting, bicycles, motorcycles and big trucks.
Traffic stops, the general speed law, lane changes, stopping 30 feet from a school bus, signaling 100 feet ahead, left turns and center lanes, roundabouts at 15 to 20 mph, who yields, stopping 15 to 50 feet from the rails, truck beds, headphones, the under-17 curfew, bicycle rules, insurance fraud and theft.
Entering the interstate at traffic speed with a four-second gap, lane use, the four-second cushion, tailgaters, exiting a mile ahead, gravel, dust, narrow bridges and blind corners, deer and farm animals, slow-moving vehicles, fog, high beams and trip planning.
The three distractions, why teens crash, the four crash factors, ABS versus pumping, escaping an oncoming car, rollovers, steering out of a skid, wheels off the pavement, blowouts, brake failure, fire, breakdowns, six inches and two feet of water, POGO, duties after a crash and the Move Over law.
How alcohol works, the .04, .08 and .02 limits, first through fourth DWI penalties, drugs and vehicular homicide, implied consent and the 365- and 730-day refusal suspensions, suspension grounds, trailer brakes at 3,000 pounds, titles within five days, insurance, plates and inspection stickers.