15. Defensive driving secrets that can save your life. Do you agree safety is everything when it comes to driving? Then hit thumbs up and take notes of the defensive driving secrets we have put together for you. Number 1. Where danger can come from. The places where people break more often are usually the most slippery. For turns, pedestrian crossings and bus stops. Be most attentive when you come close to bridges, tunnels and entrances and exits to overpasses. You should keep the same speed there and start breaking early. 2. Keeping the right distance. In winter, the distance between two cars should be two times bigger than in summer. Don't leave too much space because someone else will want to get in the middle, which is dangerous for all three cars. 3. Looking further. Don't look only at the car in front of you. Keep it in your sight, but also look further. Four to five cars further. This way you can see dangerous parts of the road before the car in front of you gets there. 4. Using clutch and brake in the winter. In winter, you shouldn't push the clutch pedal together with the brake pedal. In this case, the wheels can get blocked. And the car will be put into a drift. You want to try to avoid those, don't you? 5. Driving and fog. The most important thing to take care of when driving and fog is to be seen by others. This and driving extra carefully, obviously. Make sure your headlights are on, but don't use high beams. Those will reflect off of the vapor in the air and only make things worse. Your low beams are perfectly safe and even obligatory to use, though. 6. ABS vs. no ABS. ABS car owners. The anti-lock braking system is a handy feature of all new cars, which neutralizes the brake pedal on icy roads if you push it too fast and too hard. Instead of braking suddenly, the system causes the pedal to vibrate so you can turn the wheel and put it in the initial position. Non ABS car owners. Defensive driving instructors think that the best way to brake in winter is using the brake pedal together with the downshift speeds. You should push the brake pedal shortly and then fully unblock the wheels, repeat before the full stop. 7. How to regain control when drifting. It's important to remember that drift isn't something fatal and it doesn't necessarily lead to accidents as long as you know what to do and stay in control. There are three possible types of drifting. 1. Sliding. The front access is stable. The rear one slide. The car turns more than expected. 2. Drift. The rear wheels are stable. The front one slide. The car moves forward when turning. 3. Full destabilization. All four wheels slide. The direction of movement is unpredictable. If your car starts drifting, don't panic and don't hit the brake pedal. Another mistake most people make is wrenching the wheel round and in this way over compensating. If your car is rear wheeled, pull back on the throttle and turn your wheel in the direction of the drift. If your car is front wheeled, pull the throttle up. Once the car is out of the drift, immediately turn the wheel to its initial front position or a new drift will start. 8. Drag the road. When driving on winter roads, hit the brake pedal and let it go several times. If you feel that the car stops, the road is good. If you don't, it means that the road is icy. Do this as often as possible. Make sure you aren't creating dangerous situations, of course. 9. Divide by 2. If in summer you can drive at 80 mph, then in winter you should drive at 40 mph. If you usually turn at 60 mph, then in winter you should slow down to 30 mph. This way you will make sure that you will have enough time to react if your car starts drifting. 10. The surface road. On any road, try to drive the car so that all four wheels are on the same surface. If two wheels are on snow and the other two are on the ice, the car can be thrown off the road. 11. Pick a side. To avoid bounces between the walls of a deep track, push either the inside or the outside part of the wheels against the wall. 12. Higher gear. On an icy road, you should drive in a higher gear. Again, take the summer norm and increase the gear by 1 when you're driving in winter. 13. Don't overestimate other drivers. Even if you are the most skilled, careful and considerate driver, it doesn't make everyone else on the road be like you. People will speed, drive on red, and not let you merge from time to time. Staying alert and prepared for others to make mistakes is an essential defensive driving trick. 14. Have an emergency plan. We all hope to never get in an emergency on the road. But you'll feel way more confident if you know how to act in such a situation. Keeping in mind what exactly you should do and whom to call if something goes wrong won't exactly hurt. And always leave enough space around your car to swerve to safety if you should. An emergency plan and an escape route in mind provide extra safety for you. 15. Use technology wisely. Use plan is available for your smartphone to make sure you never forget to have your wheels changed. Set a reminder right now. So every October you will be reminded that it's time you thought about your safety. Also, there is another good, old, but not any less important rule. Avoid using distractions such as mobile apps or any other kind of cool but not critically important gadgets while driving. Focus on the road for your own safety and the sake of others.