always have a "plan B", a bail out option, if it goes wrong, know before hand what you are going to do to get you to where you need to be! Far better to eat a hedge in a pre-planned evolution than to bite tarmac or bonnet.
A friend of mine is a qualified driving instructor. The best driving tip that he ever gave to me was:
"Treat all other vehicles as though they are autonomous boxes with no knowledge or regard for your presence. Imagine there is no human in control of the vehicle."
Not only does this help me to stay safe, it also keeps me much calmer on the road as there is nobody to reprehend/blame.
Great tips here! As I come from an IT background, there's a few little sayings that I always like to keep in mind. Interestingly enough, this same mindset generally can apply everywhere.
-"The best way to get management excited about a disaster plan is to burn down the building across the street." Dan Erwin, Security Officer, Dow Chemical Co. - 2008
-"...and the best way to educate them is to stop saying this one simple phrase, "Stupid Users." You know what? If I'm in the security department, Stupid me for not educating my employees on how to handle those types of threats." Jayson E. Street, CIO, Stratagem 1 Solutions. - Defcon 19: "Steal Everything, Kill Everyone, Cause Total Financial Ruin!" (Basically the TED Talks of the IT world)
No matter what you're doing or where you are in this world, having some sort of contingency plan in place is absolutely necessary. It doesn't always have to be an "IF X then do Y" type of plan, but just something flexible enough to where it can adapt to the situation. As much of an unfortunate thing as it is to say, most people on the road qualify as stupid users by choice, so it's our job to be that much more vigilant on the road in order to protect ourselves.
