Refresher courses can benefit experienced drivers

PETALING JAYA: Experienced drivers or those who have been at the wheel for between five and 10 years will benefit from refresher courses as they could have picked up both good and bad habits throughout the years.

“I am very scared of driving on Malaysian roads because I cannot predict the reaction of the other drivers as they do not follow the road rules,” said Mohd Najeeb Rosli, an accredited defensive and advanced driving instructor.

He said aggressive driving resulted from drivers' inability to control their attitude.

“In Malaysia, much of our driver education focuses on teaching them skills but not attitude. Then, they drive in a display of stupid behaviour,” he said.

Mohd Najeeb, a qualified instructor in Britain, said early driving education (from the pre-school level) was essential in fostering responsible driving.

He stressed that driving instructors played a critical role in teaching the new syllabus expected to start sometime this year based on defensive driving principles.

He pointed out that the difference between defensive and advanced driving was that the latter was about learning advanced technical driving skills.

He added that employing defensive driving on the road was essential in reducing the number of accidents and promoting good driving habits.

Defensive driving was all about taking in surrounding information through observation, he said.

According to the Malaysian Institute for Road Safety Research, making an unconscious habit of employing basic defensive driving techniques could offer motorists as much as 99% protection.

These include looking 15 to 20 seconds ahead of the vehicles in front, not just the one directly in front, and keeping your eyes moving (not concentrating on a particular object for more than a second or peripheral vision narrows).

Peripheral vision also serves as an early warning system.

Motorists should also check their mirrors every five to eight seconds and know their vehicle's blind spots.

Psychologist Dr Anasuya Jegathesan said it was important that people who tend to get angry a lot identify the true source of their anger and deal with it.

“Find a healthy outlet for your anger.

“For example, if you always get angry with your boss before leaving the office, you might exhibit an aggressive driving behaviour. Maybe you could go to the gym first instead of driving home straight from work,” she said.

Dr Anasuya said it was not surprising that statistics showed men displayed higher aggressive driving behaviour on the road.

“Men tend to be more physically aggressive while women tend to express frustration through non-physical means,” she said.