Defensive driving is:
- Driving aggressively.
- Using safe driving strategies to prevent crashes. ✓
- More dangerous than not driving defensively.
- A bad idea.
Answer: B. Using safe driving strategies to prevent crashes.
Defensive driving means using safe driving strategies to prevent crashes.
Why this is the answer
The handbook describes the defensive driver as someone who stays alert, keeps their eyes moving, looks for trouble spots developing around them, and has a plan of action. It also says defensive driving is meant to avoid crashes. Together, those points describe safe driving strategies aimed at preventing crashes, which matches the correct choice.
Why the other answers are wrong
- A. Driving aggressively. — Driving aggressively is not defensive driving, since the handbook describes defensive driving as staying alert and planning to avoid crashes.
- C. More dangerous than not driving defensively. — Defensive driving is not more dangerous than not driving defensively, because the handbook presents it as a way to avoid crashes.
- D. A bad idea. — Defensive driving is not a bad idea, since the handbook gives it as a set of actions meant to prevent crashes.
Remember it
Think "see trouble, have a plan" — that is the defensive mindset.
Official handbook: Texas Driver Handbook (DL-7), Chapter 13: Bicycle Laws and Safety , p. 64