Direção de sobrevivência como complemento à direção defensiva: uma proposta teórico-conceitual para a educação no trânsito

Survival driving as a complement to defensive driving: a theoretical conceptual proposal for traff ic education

Abstract

This article examines the extent to which the principles of defensive driving can be expanded by incorporating behavioral and cognitive dimensions and discusses survival driving as a complementary theoretical-conceptual proposal. This qualitative, exploratory study draws on bibliographic and documentary research, bringing together studies on driver behavior, attention, risk perception, stress, metacognition, and self-regulation with national and international road safety frameworks. The findings confirm the continuing relevance of defensive driving while indicating that its preventive dimension can be further developed through four interconnected elements: self-monitoring, self-regulation, safety margins, and the preservation of life as the primary criterion for decision-making. Time pressure, stress, and distraction are examined as factors that may affect decision-making, without being treated as isolated causes of road crashes. The dialogue with Vision Zero and the Safe System approach highlights the complementary roles of individual driver education and systemic protection. The study concludes that survival driving constitutes a conceptually grounded proposal for advancing traffic education, although its effectiveness remains to be established through further empirical research.