Category: Road Rules

Q: I’ve always wondered about the five-car rule when you are driving the speed limit. I pull over as I don’t like being in front of aggressive drivers, but is that illegal too, when you aren’t technically a slow-moving vehicle?

A: Sometimes a question, instead of prompting an answer, generates more questions. It’s like asking, “What is the meaning of life? Are we alone in the universe? Is bowling a game or a sport?”

Before we get to more questions or answers, let’s do a quick review of the “five-car rule.” The law says that on a two-lane highway where passing is unsafe, a slow-moving vehicle shall turn off the roadway at a safe location if there are five or more vehicle in a line behind them. The law then defines a slow-moving vehicle as one traveling at a speed slower than “the normal flow of traffic at the particular time and place.”

Continue reading “What About (Not So) Slow-Moving Vehicles?”

Q: Can you please write about signaling at traffic circles? I rarely see anyone signal to make a right or left turn. It causes confusion when trying to enter a traffic circle because one has to almost guess whether someone coming from the other side of the circle is going to go straight or make a left turn.

A: Communication is such a big part of driving and yet, we have so few tools to let other drivers know what we’re doing. We’ve got brake lights, turn signals, and in an emergency, the horn. Those are the official signals, at least. Then there’s the wave at the four-way stop when everyone’s trying to remember who goes next, and various unsanctioned hand gestures. Those other signals might help you understand the emotional state of the driver, but they don’t help much at clarifying their driving intentions.

Continue reading “Left Turns in a Roundabout?”

Q: What should I do if my car starts to skid on ice or snow?

A: Many years ago, I learned a valuable principle from a defensive tactics instructor. He said, “If you don’t want to get hit, don’t be there.” His advice was intended for physical confrontations, but metaphorically it works in a lot of other situations. Maybe you already see where I’m going with this.

It’s easy to mistake knowledge for skill, and I’m concerned that if I answer this question the way I think you want me to, that I’ll perpetuate that mistake, so let’s shift the focus from hazard recovery to hazard avoidance. Skidding is an indicator that your driving has exceeded the limitations of the road conditions, so instead of practicing how to recover from a skid, we should practice how to drive within the limits of the road conditions and prevent the skid.

Continue reading “Getting Good at Not Skidding”

Q: When driving on a four-lane road through a neighborhood, is it safer to drive in the left lane and risk a head-on collision, or the right with less space to react to people or objects unexpectedly entering the roadway?

A: There’s that scene in Empire Strikes Back when Han Solo is trying to evade several TIE Fighters by going into an asteroid field. C-3PO warns him, “Sir, the possibility of successfully navigating an asteroid field is approximately 3,720 to one.” Han replies, “Never tell me the odds.”

Continue reading “Picking the Right Lane”

Q: If one is stopped at a traffic light on a street with a middle divider, what are you supposed to do when an emergency vehicle, sirens blaring, approaches from behind? To clear the way, you would have to run the red light.

A: The law, of course, is clear on how to handle a red light in a normal driving situation. However, there’s no section of the law titled, “What to do at a red light when emergency vehicles come up behind you.” If you’ve been reading this column for a while, you might have noticed that unusual driving situations keep popping up. What you can’t see is all the questions that go unanswered, partly because I can only answer one question a week, but also because sometimes the situations are so unique that the answer would only be relevant to the person asking the question.

Continue reading “Emergency Vehicles at Traffic Lights”

Q: Something that has not made sense to me since I started driving (49 years ago) is the apparent discrepancy in the posted speed limit (for example 50 mph) and the cautionary speed signs entering sharp turns (say 35 mph). My understanding is that it is legal to fly (unsafely) around the 35 mph corner at 50 mph. Why does the legal speed limit not change when there are tight turns?

A: I think the fundamental issue here is an incomplete understanding of our speed laws. And please don’t take that as a criticism of you personally. I mean that collectively. So I guess you could say I’m criticizing all of us. I’ll explain what I mean in a moment, but first let’s consider some unintended outcomes if we did create regulatory speed zones for every curve that currently has a cautionary sign.

Continue reading “The Real Speed Limit”