Adjusting to Driving Conditions: Night, Winter, Slippery Roads, Skids, Hydroplaning, Fog, Hills, Carbon Monoxide and Driving Emergencies: Half of Fatal Crashes After Dark, Overdriving 350-Foot Headlights, Dimming at 500 and 200 Feet, Lights From Half an Hour After Sunset, Glare, Night Breakdowns, Warming Up and Snow Tires Versus Chains, Wipers On Means Lights On, Three to Twelve Times the Stopping Distance, Starting and Braking on Ice, Rear- and Front-Wheel-Drive Skids, Hydroplaning From 35 to 55 mph, Fog and Snow, Blind Hills and Never Coasting, Carbon Monoxide, Blowouts, a Lost Wheel, Steering and Brake Failure, Running Off the Pavement, a Car in Your Lane, a Car Passing You, Stalling on the Tracks, Immersion, Fire, Overheating, Headlight, Wiper and Accelerator Failures

Written for aiforu2 as the source for a practice-test bank and the on-device tutor for the Alabama driver license knowledge test. The facts follow the official manual; the wording is ours.

Source: Alabama Driver Manual (ALEA, November 2024 edition), Chapter 7 "Adjust to Driving Conditions" (pages 69–75).

Night driving

Most drivers learn in normal conditions, so handling weather, darkness, emergencies and changes in the body must be studied. About half of Alabama's fatal crashes happen in darkness despite light traffic, and most night factors involve vision. Overdriving your headlights is common and dangerous: never drive faster than lets you stop within the distance your lights show, which for high beams is about 350 feet in normal conditions. The law requires dimming within 500 feet of an oncoming vehicle and within 200 feet when following; if the other driver fails to dim, keep yours dimmed anyway, since blinding them endangers you. Keep lights clean and working and all glass clean and free of frost and steam. Headlights, not parking lights alone, must be on from half an hour after sunset to half an hour before sunrise and whenever you cannot see clearly for at least 500 feet; when in doubt, use low beams, which also help others see you. Watch for signs, pedestrians, bicycles, slow vehicles and animals, study maps in advance, use a companion as a second pair of eyes, and relieve eye fatigue by moving your eyes from road to sides and near to far. Glare can blind you temporarily: for oncoming lights look away toward the right edge of the pavement and the white line, and for lights behind use the day-night mirror or adjust your mirror. Night emergencies are worse, with fewer choices: pull well off the highway, turn on the four-way flashers, raise the hood, stay with the car if possible, carry a light and walk on the left edge facing traffic if you must walk, and set flares or reflectors 100 to 500 feet behind on the right edge. Speed is more dangerous at night because you can see only as far as your lights carry; obey the posted limits even on familiar roads, since they protect you from a leaping deer, an unreported crash, storm damage, or your own dozing or sudden illness.

Winter and slippery roads

Darkness, fog, rain, snow, sleet and ice raise the hazards, and a thoughtful driver offsets them. Start the engine and let it warm at fast idle while you clear snow and ice from the car, especially the hood, and windows, until the heater and defroster are warm; use washer fluid with antifreeze, but on extremely cold days be careful using washer and wipers at high speed, since the solution can freeze on the glass and blind you. Get the feel of the road by trying the brakes slowly, then adjust speed. Snow treads on the drive wheels greatly improve traction, starting and stopping, but do not breed overconfidence: drive slower than normal and allow more stopping room, and they do not grip ice; for extreme ice, hard-packed or deep snow, reinforced chains are best. Alabama law requires headlights on whenever the wipers are in use for rain, sleet or snow, though intermittent wiping does not. On snow or ice stopping takes three to twelve times the dry distance, so stay well back. To start, keep engine speed at a minimum, let a clutch out slowly, and if the wheels spin start in second or high gear; with an automatic accelerate slowly. Brake gently on packed snow or ice; for a sudden stop pump the brakes, releasing when the wheels lock and squeezing again until stopped, releasing at the first hint of slipping, and do not depress the clutch to take the car out of gear.

Skidding

A skid is the tires losing grip; the engine loses pull, the brakes lose effect and the steering seems useless. Braking only speeds the skid and locks the front wheels, so do not brake until you regain forward control, then brake carefully if needed. The aim is to keep the rear from outrunning the front, so either slow the rear wheels or speed the front. In a rear-wheel-drive car, easing off the gas lets the engine brake the rear wheels, and with steering the car straightens. In a front-wheel-drive car, stepping lightly on the gas speeds the front wheels so they catch up with the sliding rear. If there is no room to accelerate, the next best action is to disengage the transmission, pushing in the clutch or shifting to neutral, and steer in the direction the rear is skidding, though many experts hesitate to recommend neutral because a panicked driver may look away from the road or shift into reverse.

Hydroplaning

Hydroplaning happens on wet roads: up to 35 mph most tires wipe the road like a windshield wiper; as speed rises they ride on a film of water like water skis, with partial hydroplaning from about 35 mph increasing to about 55 mph, when the tires may be entirely on the water, and in a severe storm all contact is lost at 55 mph, leaving no friction to brake, accelerate or corner, so a gust, a change of pitch or a slight turn causes an uncontrollable skid. Take your foot off the accelerator and let the car slow; in a partial hydroplane correct the skid as usual, and in a total one release the accelerator and ride it out. Good tires with deep tread let water escape and help prevent complete hydroplaning at normal speeds, but when the water is deeper than the tread, expect complete hydroplaning above 50 mph.

Fog, snow, hills and carbon monoxide

Avoid driving in fog or a snowstorm unless you must; reduce speed and be ready to stop within your sight distance, keep the headlights on low beam to cut the glare off the fog or snow, and if you cannot see or your eyes are exhausted, pull completely off the road, leave the lights on and wait. On narrow, hilly roads with brush and woods blocking the view there are many blind pockets, so use your horn on hazardous curves, and the law forbids coasting downhill in neutral. Carbon monoxide poisoning is likeliest in winter with the windows closed and the engine warmed before use; the fumes are odorless and deadly, the symptoms are sudden weariness, yawning, dizziness and nausea, and the only cure is fresh air; have the exhaust checked for leaks, do not idle or drive with all windows shut tight, and never warm up in a closed garage.

Driving emergencies

Think before you act; instinct, such as slamming the brakes in a skid, is often wrong. Blowout: hold the wheel tightly, steer straight, ease off the accelerator and do not brake until under control; a thumping from a bulge may warn you, a rapidly deflating tire pulls the car to one side, and under-inflation is a common cause. Loss of a wheel: the same signs and the same recovery, braking only after slowing and regaining control. Steering failure: ease off the accelerator without braking, since the car may balance itself while slowing and braking or shifting could throw it off balance; brake very gently as it slows. Brake failure: pump the pedal to build pressure (a spongy, sinking pedal is the advance warning); if that fails apply the parking brake gently so the wheels do not lock and skid; shift to a lower gear so the engine slows you, or turn off the engine while leaving the car in gear, knowing you lose power steering and brakes. Running off the pavement: do not swerve back, which can unbalance the car; stay on the shoulder, slow, then turn gently back. Car approaching in your lane: pull right, slow, sound the horn and flash your lights at night to wake the driver, and never move into the left lane where the driver may swing back. Car attempting to pass you that cannot finish: if the pass can be completed with your help, slow to let the driver ahead; if the driver must drop back, speed up to leave room behind you; if a crash is nearly certain and the shoulder allows, move quickly onto it. Stalling on the tracks: with a manual you may move off by running the starter in low or second gear; with an automatic you must push; if you cannot clear the tracks and a train is coming, abandon the car and walk alongside the tracks toward the train so debris does not hit you. Immersion: if the car floats, escape at once through a window, since opening a door lets water rush in; if it sinks, the engine drops the front first, creating an air pocket in the back, so get into it, breathe deeply and escape through a window once the car settles. Fire: get off the road, turn off the ignition, and without an extinguisher smother it with dirt or sand, never water, on which burning gasoline floats and spreads. Overheating: in slow traffic shift to neutral and race the engine briefly at stops to speed the fan and water pump; if steam appears, pull over and turn off the engine, and never open the radiator cap. Headlight failure: try the parking lights and turn signals; on a lit or busy road other light may guide you off; on a dark, deserted highway slow and stay on the pavement until slow enough to reach the shoulder safely. Wiper failure in blinding rain or snow: slow, roll down the side window, put your head out to see and leave the road, and do the same if the hood flies up. Stuck accelerator: hook your toe under the pedal to lift it; otherwise turn off the engine to slow the car, remembering power steering and brakes are lost.

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