One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is the concept of “defensive driving“. That is, when on the road, always be ready to defend yourself: always assume that other drivers are coming at you to attack.
It takes a while to truly comprehend this, but once it becomes a ‘second-nature’ mindset, it might just save your life one day. I know it has saved me from countless potential crashes and injuries.
Does It Matter If You Have The Right of Way?
Many years ago, I saw a YouTube vlog where an EMT tells a story of one of his patients, a motorcycle rider. As the guy was cruising along, a car in front of him suddenly made a turn. Crash.
The situation was very similar to this:
Now, the car is 100% at fault. The motorcyclist has the right of way. The car driver should have looked behind, stopped, and let the bike pass first.
The EMT recalls that as he arrived at the scene, the biker was in pain, cursing the car driver, and (rightfully) whining that he had the right of way.
The EMT then says, does it matter if you are right, if you are in the hospital?
I really took this quote to heart. Yes you are right and he is wrong, but now you are also paralysed from the waist down. So does it really matter who is right/wrong now?
A variation of this saying is The graveyards are full of people who had the right of way.
Don’t be stupid. Better be extra careful and alive than be right and dead. In the above video, the biker could have maintained better stopping distance, but he swerved left with the assumption that that the car was going to stop for him.
Defend Yourself On The Road
In all honesty, I used to be not that different to the biker in the video. 20-year-old me felt invincible and utterly confident in my abilities and would drive aggressively (what 20-year-old doesn’t?). If I got into a crash or a near-crash, I’d automatically blame the other person first.
This one here was in March 2016 when I had a helmet camera. It perfectly exemplifies the concept of defensive driving (or rather, what not to do):
I was assuming that the xe ôm guy would make his U-turn to the left, and so I swerved to the right to avoid him. Well, turns out he stopped in the middle of the road instead. I couldn’t react in time and ended up clipping his bike. Nothing major, just a tiny scratch.
I remember getting home that day and reviewing the footage. I was adamant that it was the other guy’s fault.
Now, looking back, it is clear that I was a complete, bona fide moron.
This is precisely what defensive driving is: what I should have done is that as soon as I saw him with a turn signal from a distance, I should have immediately assumed that he was out to attack me. And so, I should slow down, get into defence mode, and get ready to dodge him.
In fact, defence should be the default driving mode. Always assume that a threat is coming at you any moment, and always be alert and observant.
- Driving in a residential area? Always assume a dog or a kid is going to sprint across the road. Be ready to defend (brake).
- That woman driving in front of you? Assume that she’s going to make an abrupt turn any moment. Assume she will spontaneously fall off her bike. Be ready to defend.
- Driving in one of Hanoi’s alleyways? Assume that some idiot kid on a silent e-bike is going to come out of an intersection any moment. Always slow down and get ready to brake (defend).
- That car parked on the side of the road? Assume that some arsehole is going to fling the door open any moment. Slow down as you approach the car and keep a manageable distance from it.
If any of the people in these clips had applied defensive driving, none of the deaths would have happened.
In this clip: yes it is the parents’ fault that the kid is running across the street without supervision. But again — does it really matter if you’re right or wrong if you just killed a kid?
Final Thoughts
Actually, only a couple of weeks ago, I almost hit a kid in the alley right in front of our office. I was driving with Phong in the back when suddenly a neighbour’s kid dashed across the alley. I braked hard. My front tyre was 2 centimetres from her body. Had I been only a bit more distracted, or if I had been driving just a little bit faster, the kid could have fucking died. Yes it was 100% her parents’ fault, but would I want to live with being a kid killer?
On the road, your life can completely change in a moment. Always, always stay alert and always be ready to defend. Don’t ever drive offensively, and don’t ever assume other people will follow the law. They can be wrong, you can be right, but when a crash happens none of that will matter at all.