Glossary

Last Updat­ed on April 5, 2023 by acci­dents

TermDef­i­n­i­tion
ABS (Anti-lock Brak­ing System)A safe­ty fea­ture that pre­vents the wheels from lock­ing up and skid­ding dur­ing hard brak­ing, allow­ing the dri­ver to main­tain steer­ing control.
AirbagsSafe­ty devices that inflate rapid­ly in the event of a col­li­sion to pro­tect occu­pants from impact­ing the inte­ri­or of the vehicle.
Defen­sive DrivingA set of dri­ving tech­niques aimed at antic­i­pat­ing poten­tial haz­ards and mak­ing safe deci­sions on the road to avoid collisions.
Dis­tract­ed DrivingEngag­ing in any activ­i­ty that takes the dri­ver’s atten­tion away from the road, such as using a phone, eat­ing, or adjust­ing the radio.
Elec­tron­ic Sta­bil­i­ty Con­trol (ESC)A safe­ty fea­ture that auto­mat­i­cal­ly detects and helps to pre­vent skids and loss of con­trol by apply­ing brakes to indi­vid­ual wheels and reduc­ing engine pow­er as needed.
Fol­low­ing DistanceThe space a dri­ver should main­tain between their vehi­cle and the vehi­cle in front of them to allow for suf­fi­cient reac­tion time in case of sud­den brak­ing or oth­er unex­pect­ed events.
GPS (Glob­al Posi­tion­ing System)A satel­lite-based nav­i­ga­tion sys­tem that pro­vides real-time loca­tion infor­ma­tion and direc­tions, often used by dri­vers to plan their routes.
Road RageAggres­sive or vio­lent behav­ior exhib­it­ed by a dri­ver as a result of frus­tra­tion or stress caused by oth­er dri­vers or road conditions.
Seat BeltsSafe­ty devices that restrain the vehi­cle occu­pants in the event of a col­li­sion, reduc­ing the risk of injury or death.
Tire Pres­sure Mon­i­tor­ing Sys­tem (TPMS)A safe­ty fea­ture that con­tin­u­ous­ly mon­i­tors the air pres­sure in a vehi­cle’s tires, alert­ing the dri­ver in case of a sig­nif­i­cant pressure