Rules of the Road, Part One: Basic Rules, Headlight and Lighting Laws, Coasting, Littering, Slow-Moving Vehicles, Funeral Processions, the Basic Speed Rule, Tennessee Speed Limits, School and Work Zone Penalties, Braking, the Two-Second Rule, Perception, Reaction and Stopping Distances, Stops Required by Law, Rolling Stops, Railroad Crossings, the School Bus Stop Law, Police Stops, Approaching Intersections, and Every Right-of-Way Rule

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

Source: Tennessee Comprehensive Driver License Manual (TDOSHS, July 2022 information), Section B chapter 4 "Rules of the Road", pages 45–55 (Some Basic Rules through Yield to Emergency Vehicles and Transit Buses).

Basic rules and lights

Half of all crashes happen within 25 miles of home. Drive on the right and turn right around traffic circles and town squares, obey officers even when they direct something normally illegal (such as waving a funeral through a red light), and never coast downhill in neutral or with the clutch down. Headlights are required from 30 minutes after sunset to 30 minutes before sunrise, whenever daylight does not let you see people or vehicles at 200 feet, and whenever rain, mist or snow requires constant wiper use; using headlights with the wipers is Tennessee law, and daytime use makes you easier to see. Dim high beams when an oncoming vehicle is within 500 feet (about a city block) or when following within 500 feet, because glare in a mirror can blind a driver or motorcyclist. Parking lights are required on a vehicle stopped or parked on a road or shoulder in low visibility, but driving on parking lights alone at night or in bad weather is illegal, as is using fog or auxiliary lights by themselves or when high beams must be dimmed. Since 2018 no vehicle may show steady front lights in any color but white or amber, or any front flashing lights other than factory emergency flashers, with limited exceptions. Turn the flashers on when a vehicle is disabled or a hazard in darkness.

Litter, slow vehicles and funerals

Litter is a hazard as well as an eyesore: fines run from $50 to $3,000, with up to 40 hours of litter pickup and up to 8 more hours at a recycling center, and any load likely to fall or blow off must be enclosed or covered by a tarp. Driving below a posted minimum in normal conditions is illegal, and even without one you may not block traffic; you are a slow-moving vehicle at 10 mph or more below the maximum, and with five or more vehicles behind you, turn or pull off as soon as safe. Oncoming traffic customarily pulls over for a funeral procession; vehicles behind one on a two-lane road may not pass it, and no one may drive between its vehicles unless an officer directs.

Speed

The Basic Speed Rule is a safety principle rather than a statute: your speed must be careful and prudent, reasonable for traffic, pedestrians, road surface and width, structure, visibility, weather and your own ability, never so slow that you hinder others, and low enough to stop within the clear distance ahead. Rear-ending a car that stopped suddenly means you broke the rule or followed too closely, even under the limit. Unless posted, the limit on primary and secondary state and federal highways is 55 mph; the interstate maximum is 70 mph, posted on most rural sections, with 55 mph typical in urban areas; residential streets may be 25 or 35. On an interstate it is unlawful to drive below 55 mph in the far left lane unless congestion prevents it, and the right-lane minimum is 45 mph. Keep pace with traffic that is within the limit, since slow drivers crash as often as speeders. Exceeding a school zone limit while children are going to or from school or at recess is by law reckless driving with an automatic six points and an advisory letter. Speeding in an active work zone brings a mandatory fine of $250 to $500; in 2021 work-zone crashes in Tennessee killed 26 people.

Braking and following

Every automobile must have two separate braking methods, a foot brake and a parking brake. Brake slowly and evenly, start early to warn those behind, and remember that braking too hard can skid the car. Without ABS, if the car skids, lift off the brake and steer in the direction of the skid. With ABS, apply firm steady pressure, never pump, keep braking and steering around hazards, and expect pedal noise and vibration. "Cover" the brake (foot hovering) near parked cars, intersections, school zones, signals, brake lights and slow traffic, but do not "ride" it. Tennessee law forbids following more closely than is reasonable and prudent. Use the two-second rule: when the car ahead passes a fixed point, count "one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two" and you should not reach it before you finish; in bad weather, on high-speed interstates and at night, including behind a motorcycle, use at least four seconds. Tailgating causes most rear-end crashes and blocks your view.

Stopping distance

Stopping has three steps: perception (about 0.5 second), reaction (about 0.66 second, the brain telling the foot to brake) and braking, which varies with speed, pavement, tires, brakes, shocks and load. At the interstate maximum of 70 mph at night, seeing a deer and moving your foot takes 1.16 seconds and 128 feet, braking on a good dry road takes 290 feet, and the total is 418 feet, about a football field and a half. A light car at 50 mph stops in roughly 200 feet. Avoid panic stops by seeing events early; slowing or changing lanes may mean not stopping at all.

Stops required by law

Tennessee defines a stop as a complete cessation of movement. At a stop sign, stop before the nearest side of the crosswalk or at the marked stop line; without either, stop nearest the intersecting road where you can see traffic, and before entering the intersection. With no markings, stop with your front even with the sign. If you cannot see, edge forward slowly. Wait for pedestrians in or about to enter the crosswalk. Behind another stopped vehicle, leave enough gap to see its license plate or rear tire touching the pavement, then stop again fully at the line when it moves. A flashing red light requires a complete stop, as does a flagger or an officer. A rolling stop is illegal, a ticketable offense and grounds for failing the road test; a vehicle has not stopped until it lurches back after all motion ends. At right turns on red, stop completely too. On a multilane road, stop about 30 feet before a crosswalk so drivers in other lanes can see the pedestrians.

Railroad crossings

Crossings carry a crossbuck, RR, a no-passing stripe and a stop line. Drive at a speed that lets you stop before the nearest rail, and do not cross until every track is clear; violations carry the same penalties as other traffic devices. When a train is coming, stop between 15 and 50 feet from the tracks, never on them. Signs of a train: flashing lights on the crossbuck, a lowered gate, a human flagger, the horn trains must sound about 1,500 feet before the crossing, or a visible train. School and church buses (loaded or not), common carriers such as taxis, and vehicles hauling flammables or explosives must stop at every crossing whether or not signals are active; buses pull right and tankers show flashers before stopping, so expect it.

The school bus stop law

When a school bus stops to load or unload, drivers from all directions must stop until it moves again; failing to stop is a Class A misdemeanor with a $250 to $1,000 fine. Meeting a school or church bus with red lights flashing, slow and stop while the arm is out and stay until it retracts and the bus moves. Approaching from behind, never pass while the red lights flash, and never pass on the right where children enter and exit. Yellow flashing lights mean the bus is preparing to stop; red flashing lights and the extended arm mean it has stopped and children are boarding. You need not stop when traveling the opposite way on a highway with separate roadways divided by a median or a barrier not suitable for traffic, but a center turn lane is a fifth lane, not a barrier, so both directions stop on such roads.

Police stops

Police signal with flashing blue, or blue and red, lights and a siren. Pull as close as practical to the right edge or curb clear of any intersection, limit movement, keep your hands on the wheel and passengers' hands in view, tell the officer about any handgun permit and weapon, provide license and registration when asked, keep doors closed and stay inside unless told otherwise, turn on the interior light at night, and do not argue; violations are decided in court. If an unmarked car signals you, you may drive slowly to the nearest place with other people, such as a business lot or the next exit.

Approaching intersections

Intersections are implicated in 33 percent of crashes and 21 percent of fatal crashes; 308 Tennesseans died in intersection crashes in 2021. Make "traffic checks" using the left-right-left rule: look left first, since that traffic is closer, then right, then left again, and across the intersection before moving; check again as you enter, watch the front and rear, and look twice for motorcycles, bicycles and pedestrians. Slow before the intersection to your slowest speed just before entering, then accelerate through. Be in the proper lane early, never change lanes or pass in an intersection, know the right-of-way rules, and never block an intersection after the light changes, marked or not.

Right-of-way

The law never gives right-of-way; it says who must yield, and you must do everything possible to avoid a crash and give way to a driver who breaks the rules. Yield to pedestrians (anyone afoot or in a wheelchair) in a marked or unmarked crosswalk, on your half of the road or approaching closely enough to be in danger; in a marked school zone with flashers operating, stop and remain stopped until the pedestrian has crossed your roadway; when turning while pedestrians cross with the light; when crossing a sidewalk at a driveway, alley or parking lot (driving on a sidewalk except to cross it is illegal); and for a blind pedestrian with a white or red-tipped white cane or guide dog, or a deaf person with a dog on a blaze orange leash, stopping at least 10 feet away without honking. Yield to children playing in the street. Yield to oncoming traffic when starting from a parked position, when turning left across vehicles going straight or turning right, when entering a main road from a driveway, alley, parking lot or roadside, when entering a roundabout or traffic circle, when merging onto a busy highway, and to an emergency vehicle backing into a fire station. At intersections yield to vehicles already there even on green, at T-intersections to both directions on the through road, at yield signs, on left turns without a protected arrow, at all-way stops to whoever arrived first and then to the vehicle on the right, and where roads cross without signs to the vehicle arriving at the same time on your right. Never enter unless you can get through without stopping.

Emergency vehicles, transit buses and the Move Over law

When an emergency vehicle approaches with siren, air horn or red or blue flashing lights, everyone meeting or being overtaken pulls parallel and as close as possible to the right edge or curb and stops until it passes or an officer waves them on, watching for more. Drive through an intersection before pulling over, do not block a side road or driveway, stay put on red and do not go on green until it has passed, and turn the radio down to hear loudspeaker instructions. Following a fire truck or emergency vehicle answering a call is illegal, as is entering the block where it has stopped, and never drive over an unprotected fire hose. Private vehicles may not show blue, or blue and red, flashing lights. Yield to a transit bus that has signaled and is pulling from a stop, but you are not required to stop for a bus loading passengers. The Move Over law requires you to change into a lane not adjacent to any stationary vehicle with flashing lights (police, fire, ambulance, utility, highway maintenance, tow trucks and recovery vehicles), or if that is unsafe to slow down with caution; it applies on multilane roads with two or more lanes your direction.

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