5 Reasons to Take a Defensive Driving Course

By: John Mancini

If you or someone you know and love drive or ride in a car, then
you know the importance of being able to drive defensively.
Defensive driving courses are so important for so many different
reasons. Driving defensively allows you to appropriately react
to a multitude of situations in time to save the lives of
everyone around you. Taking a course in defensive driving will
help you to become a safer driver.

1- When considering taking a defensive driving course, it is
important to research the options that are available to you. The
most common type is the still the traditional, classroom type
course. However, with today's technology classes are becoming
popular both as online and correspondence courses.

2- One of the most popular reasons to take this type of course
should be to improve your driving skills, to increase your
chances of not being involved in an accident. Reality, however,
proves that the most common reason to participate in a defensive
driving course is that it is court ordered. Many times the court
will require a driver take a driving course in place of fines or
jail time for a driving infraction.

3- Another reason to take a course of this nature is to reduce
auto insurance rates. Most insurance companies offer a discount
for taking and completing a driving course. The amount of the
discount varies among insurance companies, but will be between
2-10% on average. Call your personal auto insurance agent for
the amount you could save.

4- The length of time required will vary upon the type of course
you choose to participate in. The traditional, classroom type
classes run much the same way as a normal school. These will
normally run a couple of hours for two or three weeks or they
will be in session for on or two all day sessions. Online and
correspondence courses are usually the type of course where you
work at your own pace.

5- Cost may also be a concern when choosing which type of course
to take. A traditional course is generally more expensive then
the other types that are available. However, they do have the
distinct advantage of a teacher and classmates to ask questions
to and receive answers from. If cost is a prohibitive factor in
joining a classroom course, then a correspondence or online
course could be the answer. These courses are usually less
expensive and have the advantage of being able to complete the
work at your own pace.

About the author:
John Mancini writes about defensive driving online and offline.
You can read more about defensive driving
schools in Texas and Texas
defensive driving schools on his websites.