I boarded a commercial vehicle (danfo) today and the guy was driving as if he was transporting bullion. Maybe he has been watching too much Jason statham movies. With more than 1.015 billion motor vehicles in the world (2010), defensive driving is becoming a popular phenomenon. What exactly is defensive driving?

Defensive driving is driving characterized by prudence, diligence and reasonable cautiousness with the goal of making the road a safe place not only for a defensive driver but for other people, as well.
- http://www.streetdirectory.com

Defensive driving is defined as driving to save lives, time and money in spite of the conditions of where you are and the action of those around you. It is the reasonable and responsible operation of an automobile, anticipation of potential problems and actions of other drivers to lower the likelihood of accidents.
- http://www.ask.com


Defensive Driving is essentially driving in a manner that utilizes safe driving strategies to enables motorists to address identified hazards in a predictable manner
- http://www.safemotorist.com/

A defensive driver is one who will do everything possible to avoid a collision.
- http://www.answers.yahoo.com

With this in mind, would you say Nigerian drivers are defensive or offensive?

It is the method of driving with safety and accident avoidance first in your mind. For instance always keeping extra distance between you and the car in front of you. Anticipating that the car from the side may try to push the light
so you look both ways after you get a green before going rather than just roaring off as soon as the light turns green. In other words, driving carefully to avoid an accident.

Most commercial drivers are on the offensive side in Nigeria while private motorists are on the defensive side

offensive

BOTH: They offend U, if u challenge them, they defend themselves.

Bossforeva: BOTH: They offend U, if u challenge them, they defend themselves.

hmmm..lol

kingschild123: It is the method of driving with safety and accident avoidance first in your mind. For instance always keeping extra distance between you and the car in front of you. Anticipating that the car from the side may try to push the light
so you look both ways after you get a green before going rather than just roaring off as soon as the light turns green. In other words, driving carefully to avoid an accident.

Most commercial drivers are on the offensive side in Nigeria while private motorists are on the defensive side

That's some new enlightenment there. That implies I have been defensive. Danfo drivers, cabs and some non commercial motorists are offensive

Defensive drivers are always on the lookout to avoid accidents...if a car is coming in your lane as a defensive driver you would make room to avoid a crash and not hold your ground thinking "this is my lane why should I get out?" Aggressive (Offensive) drivers are the ones that are always in a rush..weaving in traffic..riding on your bumper..speeding period.I would love to say commercial drivers are aggressive but...they are not...they are reckless period.

Nice