Dear Jerry:

A couple of months ago, I clipped an “Ask Jerry” column for my teenage son to read. When I re-read it today, I noticed you referred parenthetically to two bad driving habits. Quoting exactly, they were “excessive speeding” and “tailgating.”

As I just started giving my son driving lessons, I am improving my own driving practices. Among other things, my son asked me to identify the single riskiest driving habit.

In your opinion, would “excessive speeding” or “tailgating” be the most dangerous driving practice?

Andrew S., Salisbury, Md.


Dear Andrew:

Neither. In my opinion, “excessive speeding” would be No. 3 on the list of most dangerous driving practices. “Tailgating” would be No. 2. “Taking one’s eyes off the road” would be No. 1. Even for a fraction of a second, looking elsewhere is a potentially fatal mistake. The resulting loss of life can be a driver, passenger, motorcyclist, biker, animal, pedestrian . . . .

Since my days as a teenage driver, my driving vigilance improved immensely. At this point, I have enjoyed a lengthy record of zero accidents and zero points on my driving record. “Zero accidents” means no accidents caused by me and no accidents caused by other drivers smashing into me. The best way to achieve that record is total alertness. Once your eyes leave the road, that alertness diminishes significantly.

Another advantage of my careful driving is a longtime record of “zero + five.” That would be zero points (i.e., demerit points) plus five “safe-driving points” (often called “good points”). Some jurisdictions, such as mine, offer up to five safe-driving points; it is one point for every year a driver incurs no moving violations. Those safe-driving points are subsequently deducted from any future demerit points. Accordingly, a person with “zero + five” could hypothetically receive a four-point driving ticket and still have zero points on his or her driving record.

Speaking of which, readers should periodically obtain a copy of their driver records from their state DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles). Should you have zero points or “zero + five,” it is handy to mention if stopped on the road by a police officer. With today’s technology, a police officer can instantly verify the number of demerit points on a driver’s record.

Meanwhile, when driving a car, my frequently repeated adage is especially applicable. That, of course, would be “Prevention is easier than correction.”
