Learning from your mistakes sounds so very obvious. But here are some facts every driver should know.

• Every time you make a mistake; even a minor one; that mistake can become an incident or an accident
• Around one in five driving incidents is an accident, or to put it another way; incidents are warnings of accidents
• Almost all accidents can be avoided by any of the drivers involved
• You can avoid almost all accidents if you get training and hone your skills.

But if you make mistakes or have incidents or accidents without correcting the behaviour you are at far greater than average risk of repeating the mistake and having an accident. Almost all accidents are fortold by incidents.

So pay close attention to your own mistakes and incidents. Consider keeping a diary to note down incidents. Recognise how you were at fault or how you might better have avoided someone else's mistake, and do whatever it takes to ensure it does not happen again.

But how do you recognise an incident? Here are some examples:

• Emergency braking. It does not matter if it seems to have been the other person's fault. If you have had to do emergency braking it is your fault.
• Emergency steering. For example swerving around another vehicle to avoid hitting it. Your fault again.
• Sudden surprises. Another vehicle appears "out of nowhere" and gives you a shock. This is your observation failure.
• Your vehicle skids. You made a mistake with the controls or misjudged the vehicle or the road surface. Go for skid pan training and learn all about skidding.

So learn from your mistakes. Become a better driver and be safe.

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