How does the manual glossary define defensive driving?
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A.
Driving five miles per hour under the posted speed limit whenever you are in traffic
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B.
Protecting yourself and others from dangerous and unexpected driving situations by using a space management system Correct
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C.
Making sudden brake and steering moves to correct the behavior of nearby drivers
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D.
Following any vehicle at one car length for every ten miles per hour of your speed
The answer is "Protecting yourself and others from dangerous and unexpected driving situations by using a space management system"
The glossary defines defensive driving as protecting yourself and others from dangerous and unexpected driving situations by using a space management system. Choice A is the trap for drivers who bring the everyday cushion habit of dropping a few mph under the limit in heavy traffic into the exam and treat that speed offset as the manual's own definition of the term.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Driving five miles per hour under the posted speed limit whenever you are in traffic
The glossary defines defensive driving through space management, not through a fixed speed offset from the posted limit. This answer carries over the everyday habit of dropping a few mph under the limit in heavy traffic and treats that speed cushion as the manual's actual definition.
C. Making sudden brake and steering moves to correct the behavior of nearby drivers
The glossary frames defensive driving as protection through a space management system, not as reactive correction of other drivers. This answer reads the word defensive as after-the-fact reaction to other drivers rather than the prevention through space the glossary specifies.
D. Following any vehicle at one car length for every ten miles per hour of your speed
The one-car-length-per-ten-mph guideline is a separate following-distance rule of thumb, not the glossary's definition of defensive driving. This answer swaps the older one-car-length-per-ten-miles-per-hour following rule taught in driver-ed classes for the glossary's own wording of the term.
This question tests your knowledge of Defensive Driving in Texas. Source: Texas Driver Manual, "Appendix A: Glossary of Terms," p.72..
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