The Proactive Driver: An Unofficial Guide for All Drivers

Today, over 37,000 Americans die annually in highway crashes, the equivalent of the entire population of a small city. The purpose of this book is to save lives. Hermann Botzow began gathering material for The Proactive Driver ten years ago after witnessing the death of a young mother in a horrible crash. As he conducted his research, he discovered that most of us already are good drivers. In fact, many of us drive with pride. And yet, we must be constantly vigilant for encounters with distracted drivers, teens, reckless drivers, senior motorists, DUI drivers, and all sorts of weather and roadway related hazards.

In The Proactive Driver, Botzow presents an entirely new concept: proactive driving. Proactive driving takes defensive driving to a more comprehensive level in which the driver is constantly engaged in scouting, deciding, and acting rather than having one's actions determined primarily by other drivers. He reviews over 100 separate areas of driver knowledge and skills that go well beyond the basic facts needed to pass a driver's test. Throughout, the author uses personal experiences to illustrate important points, and he suggests ways in which our highways can be improved and our traffic laws made more uniform.

HERMANN S. BOTZOW spent thirty-seven years as a transportation engineer, including positions with the Ohio Department of Transportation, the US Department of Transportation, and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. A Life Member of the Institute of Transportation Engineers, he has authored three other books on transportation issues and has written numerous papers for the Highway Research Board and the American Society of Civil Engineers. Since retiring, he has devoted himself to developing the principles of proactive driving, taking defensive driving to the next level in the hopes of saving lives.