No driver wants to be in a crash, of course.

Okay, maybe demolition derby guys, but that’s more controlled and less dangerous than you might think. Certainly less dangerous than the surprise crashes that occur on the road every day.

When you’re faced with a collision on the road, get out of it if you can. And if you can’t,  find a way to minimize the damage.

Always have an “Out”

The most basic concept of defensive driving is to think about your driving as you drive: pay attention to what’s going on; keep a relatively clear space around your car, and be as prepared for surprises as you can be. And an important part of that is to plan an “out” or escape route in case of trouble ahead.

For example, if the car right in front of you were to rear-end the car ahead of it, what would you do to avoid becoming part of a multi-car collision. Could you stop in time, or would you veer to the right or the left? What’s your out?

Driving around a collision is certainly better than driving into it.

But this won’t be possible – especially in heavy traffic – unless you make it possible. As you drive, be aware of traffic and road conditions around you and keep adjusting your place in traffic to keep at least one “out” open to you if you can.

If a Crash is Unavoidable

If you don’t have a way to drive around the obstacles ahead of you. Maybe you do have to hit that other car. Or maybe you can steer around the car, but that just means that you’ll have to hit something else.

A safer driver can make both of these situations work to their advantage to minimize the damage to themselves, their car, and everyone else involved.

Slow Your Car Down

Get off of the gas and hit the brakes. Even if you won’t be able to stop completely, any reduction in speed is good for you.

The physics of a collision comes down to force of impact, which is basically a multiplication problem: speed times weight equals damage. If you have half a second before you hit that car, any reduction in speed can mean a big reduction in damage.

Aim Carefully

If you can’t escape hitting another car, do what you can to control where and how you hit it. Modern cars aren’t the heavy metal boxes that our grandparents drove around in. Construction-wise, they’re basically upholstered seats inside a concealed steel safety cage which is surrounded by “crumple zones.” These are front and back ends of cars that are designed to fold up accordian-style if they’re hit hard enough.

And it’s better to clip another car than hit it head on. If you’re forced into a situation where you have to rear-end someone, point your hood ornament at one of their tail lights instead of their license plate. Let the corner of their car absorb your force of impact: it will be a lot less damaging than throwing it at a stronger part of the car.

If you’re looking at a T-bone collision, where you’re headed straight into their car doors, steer a bit to the side and try to hit them in the trunk or engine compartment. You’ll both get less damage that way because the crumple zones will absorb so much of the impact force.

The deadliest kind of crash involving two cars is the head-on collision. If you’re forced into crashing into someone head on, your best option is to veer to the right – basically to aim your driver’s side headlight at their driver’s side headlight. This means that only some of your force-of-impact will collide with some of theirs, minimizing as much of the damage as possible. And by veering to the right instead of the left, you should be aiming yourself toward your side of the road, putting you at less risk from oncoming traffic.

Path of Least Resistance

If you can steer around the car but only by hitting something else, do it but make smart decisions about what to hit.

In our defensive driving classes, we call this “the path of least resistance.” The basic idea is simple: if you must hit something, pick the thing that will do the least damageTrash cans, mail boxes, and shrubs are all less of a danger to your car than another car would be, so aim at them if you can. If your only alternatives are brick walls or trees, you might be better off hitting the other car after all. Trees don’t come with crumple zones.

Giving Yourself More Time

Of course, all of this decision making has to be done in fractions of a second. But you even have some control over that aspect of driving.

By paying attention to your driving instead of your cell phone, you’ll see the danger earlier and have more time to react. In good driving conditions, a good driver will usually spot a need to stop in about three-quarters of a second. That’s not much time to react, of course, but it’s much more time than you’ll have if you’re looking at a text message or picking a radio station when the critical moment comes. If you’re not paying attention, you could actually kill someone before you even lay eyes on them.

By driving a bit more slowly and following at a safe distance, you will have more time to decide what to do and get it done before that nasty crashing sound takes your options away. The two-second-or-more rule is designed not so much to give you time to stop before a crash, but to give you time to steer around a crash.

Finding topics to write about here is easy. All I have to do is drive around and observe how other people are driving.

Like discussing how to drive in a school zone, for example, inspired by the people around me this morning who definitely did not know how to handle the school zone we passed through.

Legally, these are unique situations because school zones exist only part of the time. Like shamrock shakes, or the attractiveness of Helen Hunt.

The driving rules within a school zone are only in effect for that small area of the roadway and only within certain times of day, on weekdays during some months of the year. If you’re lucky, there’s a flashing yellow light to tell you when a school zone is active: otherwise, you’ll have to keep track of the day and time yourself to know when to change your driving behavior.

The temporary nature of school zones may account for some of the confusion over how to drive through one. If the rules were more permanent, they’d be better known. Another explanation of driver confusion may be that some laws have changed in recent years.

Whatever the cause of drivers misunderstanding the laws, reviewing how to drive in an active school zone is a good idea.

And I’d like to dedicate this to the other cars on the road with me this morning. This one’s for you, guys.

Slow Down in a School Zone
The posted speed limit in an active school zone in Texas is 20mph. Slowing traffic down this way gives drivers more time to react if a kid dashes across the street to get to the bus stop before the bus does.

And face it: kids do things like this. They don’t realize how dangerous it can be, so the drivers have to be aware of the danger for them.

Focus your Attention on the Road Ahead of You
When you drive through a school zone, your attention needs to be on the road in front of you because that’s where the danger of hitting a school kid exists. Some kid may dash across the road behind you, but if they do, you’re not likely to hurt them at all. It’s the area directly in front of your car where the danger lies.

And it’s here that you need to focus your attention. Put the cell phone down. Don’t unwrap that breakfast sandwich. Don’t push buttons while searching for a less obnoxious radio station. For the few yards of the school zone, keep your attention focused on your driving.

Starting September 2009, a new Texas law actually makes it illegal to use a hand-held cell phone in a school zone. This may address people taking their hands off of the steering wheel when driving near school children, but it doesn’t really deal with the loss of attention that the use of any cell phone, even the hands free kind poses. Do more than the law requires: don’t use any kind of wireless communication until you’re out of the school zone.

Do Not Pass Another Car in a School Zone
A group of cars that enters a school zone together should stay in the same position relative to each other until they reach the other end — this is easier with everyone going the same 20mph — and this is for the same reason mentioned above: your attention needs to be focused on the road ahead.

You need to be aware of little pedestrians with Justin Bieber backpacks coming at you from one side or the other, and you can’t do this if you move ahead of or fall behind other cars.When you do, your side view is momentarily blocked, and if you spend time with little kids, you know that a moment is all that’s needed for something tragic to happen.

Do Not Change Lanes in a School Zone
This is another result of putting your focus on the road ahead. A driver in a school zone needs to be watching ahead for school kids who might step out in front of them. A driver who’s changing lanes needs to focus on multiple lanes, other drivers, their own blind spots, etc. And all of this changing of lanes takes attention away from where it needs to be.

So wait. Change lanes after the school zone. After all, they’re never very long anyway.

For the past few days, Texas has seen some serious rainfall, and already stories are coming in of people missing in flood waters.

Almost every year Texas leads the nation in flood-related deaths. Our size and geography make us uniquely prone to flooding conditions, being hit by both hurricanes and tropical storms on the Gulf Coast and cool air masses from the Rocky Mountains. The area known as “flood alley” — a curved area along the Balcones Escarpment, stretching from Dallas through Austin to San Antonio — is the location of some of the heaviest rainstorms in the country.

But because so much of Texas is dry so much of the time, it’s easy for people to forget just how dangerous rain can be to the average driver. When the rain starts, we turn on our wipers but too many of us don’t adjust our driving to the conditions, taking foolish chances because we underestimate the danger.

So as we move into fall, it’s a good time to review driving practices for wet or flooded driving conditions.

Driving in the Rain
Wet roads reduce traction between your tires and the road’s surface, so your handling ability is reduced while your stopping distance will be increased. The most basic thing to do is what we recommend for all adverse driving conditions: slow down and increase your following distance. Posted speed limits are the recommended speed for perfect conditions: if the roads are wet, you should be driving well under the posted limit. And increasing your following distance will help to adjust for the loss in stopping power that wet roads create.

Falling rain also affects visibility. To overcome your own loss of visibility as much as you can,  use your wipers and payi closer attention. Use the air conditioner, even if it’s not set to a cold temperature, to dehumidify the air and keep the windows from fogging. And cut out any distractions. Turn off that music, save your snacking ’til later, and pull off of the road before you touch that cell phone. Especially when conditions are bad, your mind needs to be focused on driving.

All the other drivers on the road will have just as difficult a time seeing, so make your car easier to see by turning on your headlights. And if your car is grey, give some serious thought to a paint job. Florescent lime green, for example, is easier to spot in the rain.

Adjust your schedule to allow for the delays that you know are going to happen. Leave early if you can, so that you have extra time to get where you’re going without a dangerous rush. And so you can sit behind someone else’s crash without stressing yourself out. Before you head home from work, call and let whomever know you’ll be late. This is definitely not the time to be making a call while you’re driving.

And stay out of the right-hand lane. Roads in Texas are crowned, built with a gentle side-to-side curve to the road’s surface. This helps the rain water to sluice off of the pavement, but it also means that the water will be deepest in the outside lane. Stay out of that lane if you can help it.

Driving on Flooded Roads
First, do not drive unless absolutely necessary, and never drive though a flooded area. If the road ahead disappears under the water, turn around and find another route. Even shallow water can hide hidden dangers, like dips in the road or even places where the road’s surface has been washed away.

Don’t underestimate the danger of water. Six inches of water is enough to reach the bottom of most passenger cars, causing possible stalling and loss of control. If your car does stall, abandon it immediately and get to higher ground. One foot of water will cause most vehicles to float, and two feet of rushing water will sweep most vehicles along with it, even SUVs and pick-ups.

Flash floods can come rapidly and unexpectedly, and you may have no warning. They can occur within a few minutes or hours of excessive rainfall, or when a dam or levee fails and even a sudden release of water held by an ice or debris jam. Be cautious during storm seasons, or any time that flooding is common in your area.

At Comedy Guys Defensive Driving, we may instill comedy into our driving safety classes, but we take our core mission very seriously. Wet or dry, we want to make Texas roads a safer place to drive.