As I sit at the kitchen table writing this I'm waiting for a crash to happen. A succession of drivers is heading past the window; only one every five minutes or so. They're not going terribly quickly. Most seem to be paying a reasonable amount of attention to what they're doing. But I'm still sat here waiting for the crash.

The reason is pretty simple. Not one of them has enough information to be safe, and as they come round the corner where I live, they stand a very good chance of meeting someone coming the other way.

Being Bampton, it's likely to be one of the local farmers in a tractor. It could be the lads from the fire station checking there's room for the fire appliance down the narrow lane. Either way, the score will be Big Vehicle, One. Car, Nil. The problem is, drivers are too trusting in fate, their guardian angels, luck, karma whatever. Whilst all these things are noble and fine, hard fact is what you need when you're driving. If you're going to take a corner, you have a choice. Know what's there or slow down until you DO.

Apparently, men have a fear of commitment. Not when they're driving they don't. They'll commit to bowling round a blind bend without a care in the world or the slightest knowledge of what's waiting. Don't make sure you have information before you commit.

The first and most crucial stage of the System of Car Control, on which all safe driving is based, is information. Here's a simple rule of thumb that you can use that also shows how the whole system of car control is linked together. Ready? The less information you have, the slower your speed needs to be.

Now that means two things. First, the less you can see the slower you drive. Second, the less you can predict, the slower you drive. It's simple really; just drive on the basis of what you know to be there.

But information has another side the information you give to other road users, both wittingly and unwittingly.

To steal from Arthur Marwick, a smart driver, sitting behind you, is assessing you all the time. She's looking for the things that mark out the good driver from the bad. The stickers in your windows, obscuring your view. The dangly thing on your driving mirror. The steamed-up windows on a rainy day that mean you can't be bothered to see where you're going . . . These things all send signals to the trained driver.

At the same time, the smart driver is thinking of the signals she can give to help you. An early indication before braking and turning into a junction ahead. Perhaps, if you're too close, she'll press the brake just a couple of seconds before she needs to stop so that you have time to slow down.

Like everything else about driving safely, there's nothing complex involved. Just a willingness to see what's around you and think as you drive. Make sure that whatever you're doing you have enough information.