Everyday Driving Skills: Managing Space and Speed, Night and Weather, Communicating, Turning, Merging and Passing

Written for aiforu2 as the source for a practice-test bank and the on-device tutor for the Pennsylvania non-commercial Class C knowledge test. The facts follow the official manual; the wording is ours.

Source: Pennsylvania Driver's Manual (PUB 95), Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, chapter 3 "Learning to Drive", "Everyday Driving Skills" through "Passing" (pp. 35–47).

How new drivers crash

Most crashes are human error, and drivers with under five years of experience err most; in 2017, 7.2 percent of all 16-year-old Pennsylvania drivers were in reportable crashes. The top reasons for 16- and 17-year-olds: driving too fast for conditions (number one), tailgating, proceeding without clearance after stopping, speeding, over- or under-compensating in a curve, improper turning, distraction, improper driving, sudden slowing, and inexperience. Four crash types, hitting a stationary object, crashes where roads meet, rear-end and head-on collisions, account for about 92 percent of crashes and 93 percent of deaths.

Managing space

You must manage six areas of space around the vehicle: ahead, the two sides, the two rear corners, and behind. Keep a cushion on all sides.

Ahead, the 4-second rule: a four-second following distance lets you steer or brake around a hazard on dry pavement. Watch the vehicle ahead's rear bumper pass a marking or a pole and count; reaching it in under four seconds means you are too close. Allow more on wet, slippery or unpaved roads; when a driver behind wants to pass; behind trucks, buses, vans or vehicles pulling trailers whose rear view is blocked or that block your view ahead; behind heavy loads and trailers; approaching slow vehicles and bicycles; behind school buses, taxis, buses and hazmat trucks that stop at railroad crossings and make unexpected stops; going downhill; and when stopped on an uphill, where the vehicle ahead may roll back.

Sides: these are your escape paths. Avoid driving alongside other vehicles on multi-lane streets (they block your view and you sit in their blind spot); keep space from oncoming vehicles; make room for vehicles entering highways by moving to an inside lane when safe; keep space from parked cars, whose doors and occupants can appear suddenly; and if you do not have at least eight feet of escape space on one side, lengthen your following distance instead. With parked cars on the right and oncoming traffic on the left, slow down and split the difference down the middle.

Behind: keep a steady speed and signal before slowing. If tailgated, move to the right lane, or wait for a clear road and tap the brakes gently to slow and let the tailgater pass; keep an escape path to the side when you must slow or stop. The rear corners are blind spots: turn your head to check them before every lane change.

Stay visible: never linger beside and slightly behind another vehicle, both blind spots; speed up or drop back, and get through a blind spot quickly when passing.

Looking ahead, to the sides and behind

Identify problems 12 to 15 seconds ahead, about a city block or a quarter mile at highway speed, by scanning the whole scene, not staring at the road center: slow traffic entering, vehicles stopped to turn, and warning and information signs. At intersections, driveways, shopping centers and highway ramps use the left-right-left rule: left first because that traffic is closer, then right, then left again before pulling out, and look both ways again as you enter; never assume others will stop, and creep forward when buildings, shrubs or parked cars block the view. Check behind often, especially before lane changes (including entering a highway or leaving the curb) and backing. Before a lane change, signal, check the mirrors, then look over both shoulders, never relying on mirrors or sensors alone, without leaving the road ahead for more than a second, and on roads with three or more lanes check every lane. Before backing, check behind the vehicle before you get in, then turn your head to look through the rear window.

Managing speed

There is no single safe speed; consider the road, visibility and traffic flow. Posted limits are the maximum under ideal conditions. The statewide maximum is 70 mph; on interstates the limit is posted after each interchange, on other highways about every half mile; in school zones it is 15 mph when the lights flash or during the posted times. Drive below the limit in rain, poor visibility or any imperfect condition; you can be ticketed for too fast for conditions even under the limit.

Eco-driving: fuel use rises about 5 percent for every 5 mph over 60; rapid starts and hard stops raise fuel use by 40 percent but cut travel time by only 4 percent; use the air conditioner above 40 mph; warming up takes only 30 seconds; cruise control on flat highways saves about 7 percent; heed the OBD light; use an ECO mode; avoid idling (shift to neutral or park if you must); combine errands, carpool, walk or ride.

Night driving

The highest crash rates and three to four times the fatality rate come at night: limited vision, glare, and more tired or impaired drivers. Distance judgment, color vision and side vision all shrink, and pedestrians are the hardest things to see. Headlights help you see and be seen; clean them weekly, at the gas pump, since dirty lights give half their light. The law requires headlights when light is insufficient on gray days or in heavy traffic, in rain, snow, sleet, hail, fog, smoke or smog (low beams only, high beams cut visibility), when you cannot see people or vehicles 1,000 feet ahead, between sunset and sunrise, in work zones, and whenever the wipers are on, continuously or intermittently. Daytime running lights are not enough, since the taillights must be lit too; the fine starts at $25 and approaches $100 with costs.

Use low beams within 500 feet of an oncoming vehicle and within 300 feet of a vehicle you follow. If an oncoming driver keeps high beams on, flash yours a few times; if they do not dim, look toward the right edge of the road, and never retaliate with your brights. Switch the inside mirror to its night setting against glare from behind. Do not overdrive your headlights: low beams reach about 250 feet, and even on dry pavement stopping from 55 mph takes more than that, so on a dark road keep to 45 mph or less.

Road conditions

Slippery roads are most dangerous on curves; take them slowly. Roads are slickest in the first 10 to 15 minutes of rain, when oil rises from the asphalt, worse in hot weather; in cold wet weather, shaded stretches freeze first and dry last. Hydroplaning is the tires riding on a film of water like skis, possible at only 35 mph in a tenth of an inch of water, worse on worn tires: keep both hands on the wheel, ease off the gas slowly, no sudden braking or turning, steer gently, and brake gently if you must.

On snow and ice traction collapses; near 32°F, when precipitation turns to rain or sleet, a film of water on ice is slipperier than ice alone. Black ice forms on clear roads as temperatures drop: the road looks wet but no spray comes off other tires. Snow or ice falling from your vehicle that kills or seriously injures someone brings a fine of $200 to $1,000 per offense; clear the whole vehicle first. On wet roads cut speed 5 to 10 mph and follow at five or six seconds; on packed snow cut speed by half, on ice crawl, and leave about ten times the normal space. Brake gently, easing off in a skid; never use cruise control on slippery roads, because it keeps applying power to spinning wheels; avoid meeting other vehicles at shady spots and frosty bridges; on icy roads time your approach to lights so you coast instead of stopping and restarting, hang back on hills, and shift down before a downgrade.

Visibility: fog and snow

Fog is the most dangerous environment; do not start in dense fog, and if caught, pull completely off, ideally into a parking lot, with hazard lights on and the belt fastened. If you must drive: slow enough to stop within the distance you can see, checking the speedometer because fog hides your sense of speed, and use low beams and fog lights day or night, never high beams, which glare back. In snow: clear the windows, hood, trunk and roof so snow does not blow onto your or a following driver's windshield; clear the lights and signals (a dirty headlight loses over 50 percent of its light); warm the engine so the defroster works; keep the wipers and non-freezing washer fluid working; run the defroster; and use low beams even by day. Snow squalls on otherwise clear days cut visibility to near zero in seconds, often at interstate speeds: monitor forecasts and message boards, change your time or route, exit and wait if one approaches, and if caught slow gradually with hazard lights on, never slamming the brakes, and stay in the vehicle after a collision. The National Weather Service issues Snow Squall Warnings, usually lasting under 45 minutes. The headlight/wiper law (2007) requires headlights whenever the wipers run for weather.

Traffic flow

Drive with the flow within the limit; going faster or slower than others causes crashes. Boxed into a pack in someone's blind spot, slowing two or three mph lets traffic clear around you. Handle one condition at a time: with a bicyclist on the right and an oncoming car, slow behind the cyclist, let the car pass, then move left and pass with at least four feet of space. Approaching an emergency scene, police stop or tow truck, move into a non-adjacent lane, or if you cannot, slow to at least 20 mph below the limit. Watch for slow vehicles: trucks on grades flash their lights; farm tractors and horse-drawn vehicles built for 25 mph or less carry the orange triangle; stay back and do not honk to pass.

Communicating

Brake lights signal slowing; where a stop is unexpected, tap the pedal three or four times, and below 40 mph on a limited access highway use the hazard flashers. Signaling does not give you the right to turn. Signal at least 100 feet before a turn under 35 mph and at least 300 feet at 35 mph or more; if the signals fail, use hand signals: left arm straight out for left, bent up for right, bent down for slowing or stopping. Broken down, signal, pull as far off as possible where you can be seen, put on the hazard flashers and lift the hood. Use the horn when another driver or a pedestrian does not see you, such as a child running toward the street or a vehicle about to hit you, and if you lose control.

Turning, merging and passing

To turn safely: signal three to four seconds ahead, position in the proper lane, control your speed, and finish in the proper lane; speed is the most important factor, and improper turning caused 459 crashes among 17-year-olds in 2017. On two-lane roads, turn left from as close to the center line as possible and right from as close to the right edge as possible; on multi-lane roads, from the left lane or right lane; turn into the closest lane going your way and change lanes only after the turn.

Center turn lanes (solid outer line, broken inner line) are only for starting left turns from either direction or finishing a left turn from a cross street. Signal three to four seconds before entering, do not enter too early, enter completely, and turn only when safe, watching for oncoming drivers in the same lane and for drivers turning into it from driveways and cross streets.

U-turns are allowed only when they endanger no one: every driver from every direction must be at least 500 feet away and able to see you; no U-turns on curves, near a hill crest, or where the NO U-TURN sign is posted. Right on red is allowed after a stop and yielding unless the NO TURN ON RED sign is posted, and left on red from a one-way onto a one-way after stopping.

Crossing traffic: stopping halfway across is safe only where a center median turning lane holds the whole vehicle; never enter an intersection, even on green, if vehicles block your way; never pull out in front of a vehicle with its signal on, since the driver may turn beyond you or have forgotten the signal (motorcycle signals may not cancel), so wait until it actually turns; take extra care near hills and curves.

Merging: an acceleration lane lets you reach traffic speed and lets highway drivers see you; passing in an acceleration lane is illegal. Signal and look for a gap, accelerate to traffic speed, and merge into the opening.

Passing: read the signs and markings; look ahead for driveways and hazards in the passing area; check the mirrors and blind spots for someone passing you; make sure the lane is clear and signal early; signal your return; and move back only when you can see both headlights of the passed vehicle in your rearview mirror. Be extra careful at crossroads and shopping center exits, where a driver turning into the left lane will not expect you. On a two-lane road you use the oncoming lane: at 45 mph you need about a quarter mile of clear road and should be going about 10 mph faster than the vehicle you pass; you may pass several vehicles if there is room ahead. Night passing is most dangerous, because a single pair of headlights looks farther away than it is. Pass on the right only when the vehicle ahead is making or signaling a left turn (staying on the pavement, not the berm or shoulder) or on a road with two or more marked lanes in each direction. You may not pass within 100 feet of or while crossing an intersection or railroad crossing unless a device allows it, within 100 feet of a bridge, elevated structure or tunnel, on or approaching a curve or hill crest that hides oncoming traffic, or on the shoulder of a multi-lane highway.

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