Platform engineering aims to accelerate software delivery by providing developers with self-service capabilities, but this must be balanced with security and stability. Simply using the ambiguous term "guardrails" can lead to confusion and developer frustration. A more effective approach involves a practical taxonomy of four platform engineering concepts: golden paths, guardrails, safety nets, and manual checkpoints. Golden paths, like pre-approved Terraform modules, act as well-paved roads that make the right choices easy for developers. Guardrails, such as organization policies blocking public storage buckets, serve as emergency brakes to prevent catastrophic events. Safety nets, like monitoring systems and automated rollbacks, are reactive controls that mitigate failures after they occur. Manual checkpoints and reviews, such as architectural and code reviews, are crucial for introducing human judgment and oversight into the application lifecycle. Understanding the distinctions between these controls—steering, prevention, reaction, and human judgment—clarifies the intent behind platform tools. This comprehensive approach enables building a platform that is both fast and safe.