Slippery pavement gives your tires less traction, so lose speed before a curve or intersection rather than while you are in it. Speeding into a curve, or waiting until you are already descending a hill to downshift, makes a skid more likely.
Flashing red lights mean the bus is picking up or dropping off children, so traffic behind it must halt and remain stopped until the lights shut off and the stop arm retracts. Slowing down or passing instead is illegal and dangerous. How far back you must stop depends on the state; where the law gives a distance, it is usually 10 to 20 feet.
Highway traffic moves fast, so situations change in seconds. Paying full attention, scanning constantly, and being ready for hazards such as debris, stalled cars, or sudden braking all help you avoid a crash.
A common way to measure the gap is the 3-second rule: when the car ahead passes a landmark, you should be able to count at least three seconds before your car reaches the same spot. Some handbooks also cite one car length per 10 mph, and extra space is needed on slick roads or in poor weather.
Each curb color carries its own parking rule. White allows only a brief stop to let passengers in or out or to drop off or collect mail, while yellow is for loading freight or passengers.
Tip A white curb is for a quick drop-off or pickup of people or mail, not for parking or loading cargo.
Each of these lowers the force of the crash: objects that give way absorb energy, a stationary object adds no speed of its own, and a glancing blow transfers less force than a head-on hit. If a collision is likely, brake hard and steer toward the least harmful option.
Passing must always be done on the paved, main part of the road. Pulling onto the shoulder or dirt edge to get by is never allowed, even next to a vehicle that is turning left.
Set the front wheels so that the curb would stop the car if it started to roll: angle them toward the curb if the car points downhill and away from it if the car points uphill. Apply the parking brake every time.
Tip Downhill means wheels toward the curb; uphill with a curb means wheels away from it.
Water on the pavement makes stopping take longer, so open up a gap of at least 4 to 5 seconds behind the vehicle ahead. Brake, steer and accelerate gently to avoid skidding.
Tip On wet pavement, plan on about twice your usual following distance so you have room to stop.
Without a sign showing otherwise, residential districts carry a 25 mph limit. Homes along the street mean children, walkers and bike riders may appear suddenly, so keep your speed down and stay ready to brake.
To indicate a right turn, stick your left arm through the driver's window and bend it up at the elbow so your hand points toward the sky. A straight, extended arm signals a left turn, while an arm bent downward signals that you are slowing down or stopping.
You must not pass or go around a vehicle that has stopped for people at a crosswalk, because it may be hiding a child who is stepping into the road. Obeying the school speed limit and letting children cross first are things you must do, not things you must avoid.
Most states require a parallel-parked car to have its wheels within 12 inches of the curb, and some allow up to 18, so staying within 12 inches keeps you legal in either case. A wider gap leaves the car sticking out into the travel lane, where it becomes a hazard to passing traffic.
Tip A gap of roughly 6 to 12 inches keeps you within the limit while protecting your tires from the curb.
Blinking your brake lights or turning on the hazard flashers lets the people behind you know early that traffic is stopping for a crash ahead, which gives them room to slow down. These signals warn of danger or an unexpected slowdown; they are not a way to thank another driver or something to use while reversing out of a parking spot.
Tip Hazard flashers are for warning others of a sudden danger, not for excusing double-parking or for ordinary driving.
The headlight requirement begins 30 minutes after sunset, when fading daylight makes it harder for others to see you. Also turn them on at any hour when rain, snow, or fog limits visibility.
Headlights are required whenever poor light or bad weather keeps you from seeing people and vehicles 1,000 feet ahead. Using them then helps you see the road and helps other drivers see you.
At an intersection with no controls, a driver who arrives at the same time as another must yield to the vehicle on the right, and a driver making a left turn must also yield to oncoming traffic. Because nobody is on the yellow car's right, it goes first; the blue car yields to the yellow car and goes next; the truck, turning left, waits for both.
Headlights must be on at night, which many states take to mean the time starting 30 minutes after the sun sets and ending 30 minutes before it rises, and also whenever rain, fog, or other bad weather makes seeing difficult. They light the road ahead and help other drivers notice your vehicle.
Before you back up, change lanes or brake suddenly, check the traffic behind you with your mirrors and by turning your head. Look over your shoulder through the rear window when backing, and check your blind spot before moving into another lane. These are the moments when a collision with someone behind you is most likely: backing takes you toward whatever is back there, and if you change lanes or brake hard, a vehicle coming up behind you may have no room to avoid you.
A siren or flashing red or blue lights mean an emergency vehicle needs the road. Move to the right edge, stop, and stay there until it has gone by; failing to do so breaks the law and puts lives at risk.
Total stopping distance is the ground you cover while reacting plus the distance needed to brake, which depends on speed, brakes, tires, and the road surface. Darkness can make hazards harder to spot, but the clock itself does not change how far the vehicle needs to stop.
Tip When judging how quickly you can stop, think about speed, reaction time, brakes, tires, and pavement, not the hour.
The law requires headlights starting 30 minutes after the sun sets and ending 30 minutes before it rises, which means that in the morning you can turn them off when sunrise is half an hour away. Leave them on longer when rain, fog, or snow limits visibility.
A full stop is required at a stop sign, at a red signal, and whenever a traffic officer tells you to stop. Ignoring any one of them is a violation and a common cause of serious crashes.
Cutting across a parking lot, gas station, or other property to avoid a sign or signal is illegal. The only exception is when a police officer directs traffic that way.
No one number is safe in every situation. Choose your speed based on the weather, the road surface, how far you can see and how heavy traffic is, and remember that driving under the limit can still be too fast in poor conditions.
Tight or curving roads, intersections, railroad crossings, and wet or slippery pavement all leave less room for error. A lower speed buys you reaction time and cuts the distance you need to stop.
When the wipers fail in rain or snow, ease off your speed at once, open the driver's window and look out of it if that is the only way to see, and then brake and leave the road at a safe spot. Wait there with your hazard flashers on until the weather clears or the wipers are fixed.
The red areas in the diagram are blind spots that neither the side mirrors nor the rearview mirror can show, so turning your head is the only way to check them. A safe lane change combines all three habits: signaling, checking the mirrors, and looking over your shoulder before you steer into the new lane.
If a school bus stops on a two-lane road with its red lights flashing, traffic approaching from either direction has to stop and stay put until the lights go off and the bus moves on. Simply slowing down is not sufficient, including when the bus is on the opposite side of the road.
Tip Drivers on the far side of a highway split by a physical divider, such as a raised median, are not required to stop.
After a blowout, hold the steering wheel firmly, take your foot off the accelerator, and keep the car going straight while it loses speed on its own. Braking hard can make you lose control, so stop only after you have eased off the road to a safe spot.
Every question in this set has its own page with the correct answer and an explanation.
