6.2 Defensive Driving and Accident/Incident Response

Defensive driving means anticipating hazards and adjusting your driving before a dangerous situation develops, rather than reacting after it happens. For a taxi driver who may spend eight, ten, or more hours behind the wheel in a single shift, defensive driving is not an occasional skill — it is the habit that keeps every trip safe for the driver, the passenger, and everyone else on the road.

Core Defensive Driving Habits

• Maintain a safe following distance — a gap that gives you time to brake if the vehicle ahead stops suddenly, especially during Singapore's frequent heavy downpours.
• Observe posted speed limits at all times, including on expressways where surrounding traffic may be moving faster than the limit allows.
• Scan continuously for brake lights, pedestrians stepping off kerbs, cyclists, and vehicles merging without signalling.
• Avoid aggressive driving — tailgating, sudden lane changes, or reacting to another driver's mistake with your own aggressive manoeuvre. A professional driver absorbs other road users' errors rather than escalating them.
• Manage fatigue — long shifts increase the risk of drowsy driving; take rest breaks, and do not continue driving if you are too tired to react safely.
• Adjust for conditions — heavy rain, sudden squalls, glare, and night-time visibility all call for reduced speed and increased following distance; flood-prone underpasses should be avoided during heavy rain rather than driven through.

Recognising Aggressive Driving in Yourself

Aggressive driving often creeps in gradually rather than announcing itself, so professional drivers build in self-checks:

• Tailgating to "send a message" to a slow driver ahead
• Weaving between lanes to gain a few car lengths in heavy traffic
• Sudden hard braking or horn use out of frustration rather than a genuine hazard warning
• Speeding up to make up time lost to an earlier delay
• Treating a near-miss as justification for retaliatory driving rather than a reminder to slow down

Noticing these patterns in your own driving — and consciously easing off — is defensive driving in practice, not just theory. A calm response to another driver's mistake also protects the driver's own vocational licence record, since aggressive and reckless driving are separately scheduled conduct offences.

When an Accident Happens: The Response Sequence

No matter how careful a driver is, accidents can still happen. LTA and the Singapore Police Force expect a calm, structured response:

1. Stop and secure the scene. Turn on hazard lights and, if the vehicle can be moved safely without destroying evidence, move it clear of moving traffic.
2. Check for injuries first. Look after yourself, your passenger, and anyone else involved before dealing with anything else.
3. Call the right emergency number (see table below).
4. Report to police within 24 hours if the accident involves an injury, a foreign-registered vehicle, a government vehicle or property, or a pedestrian or cyclist — even if nobody needed to attend the scene immediately.
5. Notify your taxi operator and LTA through the operator's own accident-reporting channel and, where relevant, LTA's feedback line, so the incident is on record with both parties.
6. Document everything — exchange particulars with the other driver, photograph the vehicles, road markings, and any relevant signage, and note down contact details for witnesses.

Emergency and Reporting Numbers

Why the Right Call Matters

Some accidents require both calls — for example, a collision involving an injured pedestrian needs 995 for medical attention and 999 because a pedestrian was involved, regardless of how minor the vehicle damage looks. Treat 995 and 999 as complementary calls, not alternatives, whenever both triggers are present.

Passenger Care During an Incident

A passenger's experience of an accident is shaped heavily by how the driver behaves in the first minute. Stay calm and speak clearly — passengers take their emotional cue from the driver. If the taxi cannot continue the journey, help the passenger arrange alternate transport rather than leaving them stranded, and keep them informed about what is happening and why. Avoid arguing with the other driver in front of the passenger, and never admit fault or make promises about compensation at the scene — that is a matter for insurers and, where relevant, the police to determine.

How Defensive Driving and Incident Response Work Together

The habits in this section reinforce each other: consistent defensive driving reduces how often the response sequence is ever needed, and a calm, structured response limits the damage — to people, vehicles, and your driving record — on the occasions when an incident happens despite your best efforts. Treat both halves of this section as a single skill: preventing incidents where you can, and managing them professionally where you cannot.