For 1990-2009 cars

The best advice anyone can give about driving is: Drive defensively.

Please start with a very important safety device in your vehicle: Buckle up. See Safety Belts: They Are for Everyone .

Defensive driving really means "be ready for anything." On city streets, rural roads, or freeways, it means "always expect the unexpected."

Assume that pedestrians or other drivers are going to be careless and make mistakes. Anticipate what they might do. Be ready for their mistakes.

Rear-end collisions are about the most preventable of accidents. Yet they are common. Allow enough following distance. It is the best defensive driving maneuver, in both city and rural driving. You never know when the vehicle in front of you is going to brake or turn suddenly.

Defensive driving requires that a driver concentrate on the driving task. Anything that distracts from the driving task -- such as concentrating on a cellular telephone call, reading, or reaching for something on the floor -- makes proper defensive driving more difficult and can even cause a collision, with resulting injury. Ask a passenger to help do things like this, or pull off the road in a safe place to do them yourself. These simple defensive driving techniques could save your life.