- Hi there, smart drivers, Rick August,
with Smart Drive Test talking to you tonight
about road rules.
Those things that guide our actions and keep us safe
on the roadway, most of the time,
how they keep you safe, how they make you a safer, smarter,
more predictable driver.
Stick around.
We'll be right back with that information.
(upbeat music)
So, here we go.
So, you can be right or you can be dead right.
And what I mean by this in terms of driving is,
sometimes you just have to take the foot off the throttle
for a couple of seconds, let the vehicle in front of you go,
and then you can proceed without being involved in a crash
or anywhere near being involved in a crash or a close call
because you definitely don't want to do that.
When you're driving,
you want to manage space around your vehicle
because space buys you time, time buys you options,
and you want options when you're driving.
So, today we're talking about road rules, right-of-away,
learning to drive, determining the right-of-way
and giving way to other road users.
Road rules are broken. They're broken all the time.
Know that it's not a matter of if it's going to happen,
it's simply a matter of when it's going to happen
when you're driving.
And road rules no more prevent traffic crashes
than criminal law prevents crime.
Road rules don't make you a safer, smarter driver.
You can adhere to every road rule
and you could still be at risk of being involved in a crash.
So, know that there are rules.
The first thing you need to know
and I get this question a lot
because the mock road test video,
right at the beginning of the video,
I'm at a stop sign and I'm turning left
and the driver across from me is turning right.
And people ask me all the time
why the other driver is supposed to go first
even though I arrived at the intersection first.
The reason they go first
is because it's right turning traffic
over left turning traffic at two-way stop signs.
It doesn't have anything to do with
who arrived at the intersection first.
That's a four-way stop sign, not a two-way stop sign.
So, know that the rules at two-way stop signs are different
than they are at four-way stop sign intersections.
As well, know that the traffic on the cross street,
the street that you are facing is not going to stop.
So, after you come to a complete stop,
then you have to creep forward.
You have to locate a gap
and you can only go when the way's clear.
So, know that for two-way stop sign intersections.
New video this week was the fourth driving lesson
with Kailah.
And it was about reading and responding to traffic.
And this is what we need to do to keep ourselves safer.
And to be more predictable on the roadways
is to be looking down the roadway,
figuring out what traffic patterns are happening
on the road,
and then responding to those with the appropriate behavior
to keep yourself safe and drive defensively.
And Kailah passed her driver's test on Friday.
Congratulations to Kailah.
She was extremely happy and sent me these images
that I posted around on social media.
So, congratulations to Kailah on passing her driver's test.
That is absolutely awesome.
Live stream every Sunday at 6:00 PM Pacific Standard Time,
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We answer all of your questions about driving,
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Click up in the corner here,
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and we'll see you then.
Yield signs.
They're the same rules as two-way stop sign intersections.
The only difference between yield signs
and two-way stop sign intersection
is you don't have to come to a complete stop
if the way is clear.
And yield signs at conventional intersections
are going the way of the Dodo bird.
They don't exist very often at conventional intersections,
maybe some remote residential intersections and whatnot,
but for the most part,
where you're going to find yield signs is at roundabouts
and slip lanes or right turning lanes.
This is where you're going to find yield signs,
not at conventional intersections.
There's very few.
I think here in Vernon,
I think there's only two that I know of
in all of the cities.
So, at conventional intersections.
So, four-way stop signs,
first vehicle to arrive is the vehicle on the right.
If you're not sure who goes first
at the four-way stop sign intersection,
just pause and let the other person go first. Okay?
So, the road users in the intersection.
So, if there's a pedestrian or somebody on a scooter
or those types of things
and they're already in the intersection,
they're the ones that are going to go first.
So, after these rules apply
at a four-way stop sign intersection,
then it's right turning traffic
over left turning traffic
and straight through traffic over turning traffic.
So, that's the way that it works,
four-way stop sign intersections.
Freeways.
And I have one of these sitting on the shelf
ready to be put up on YouTube
where I talk about merging onto freeways
and do not ever stop on an acceleration lane.
If you want to get me going,
just say that somebody told you to stop
on an acceleration lane.
Think of getting onto a freeway like taking off
in an airplane.
Once you get out on that runway
and you get lined up to take off, there's no aborting.
You have to go.
So, get yourself on the runway,
get yourself going and get your foot into it
and match the speed of the traffic on the highway.
Sometimes yes,
the traffic on the highway will move over and help you out.
But the onus of responsibility for merging safely
onto a freeway is the merging driver,
and pick your halt, aim for that halt and go for that halt.
As well, if there is a big truck that's near you,
then plan to pull in behind that big truck. Okay?
Don't try and race it and pull in front of it. All right?
So, on-ramp, the acceleration lane, continuity lines.
Continuity lines are white lines that are twice as wide
and half as short as regular lines.
And they tell you that the lane you're in,
if they're on your left is where they're going to end
or exit.
That's what continuity lines are.
So, match the speed and adjust the speed,
look for your halt and merge.
And some of these going back to yield signs,
in some states, they will have yield signs on the on-ramp
or on the acceleration lane.
The yield sign is there to simply remind you
that the onus of responsibility for merging safely
is on the merging driver.
That's all the yield sign means.
It doesn't mean that you have to stop and wait for a gap.
It just means that the onus responsibility is on you.
So, the top three reasons for crashing,
speeding, too fast for conditions of the road traffic
and those types of things, failing to yield,
failing to give right-of-way to other drivers.
And remember, the right-of-way is always given.
It is never taken.
And then following too close,
and I would actually put following too close
to the top of that list,
because if you're not near anything,
it's much less likely that you're going to hit something.
So, manage space well around your vehicles.
All right.
So, case study.
And I asked a question about right-of-away rules
at two-way stop sign intersections.
Most people, three-quarters of the people
knew the right-of-way rules at intersections.
So, this is telling you that 25% of people
don't really understand the right-of-way rules
at two-way stop sign intersection.
So, if you're at a two-way stop sign intersection,
there's a vehicle across from you
that's going straight through or turning right
and you're turning left,
they may not understand that they have the right-of-way
and they're expected to go first.
So, if they wave you on
or they're sitting there for too long,
well, unfortunately you may have to go.
And if you do go,
make sure that you use an extreme amount of caution
so that you don't get yourself into trouble or risk a crash
as you're proceeding through the intersection.
So, predict traffic patterns,
especially this time of year right now with summer,
lots of caravans out this time of year.
Know that lots of motorcycles, lots of people on scooters,
skateboards, those types of things, bicycles,
all of these are going to be part
of the summer traffic patterns.
So, turning lanes, look for rubberneckers.
Rubberneckers are people that are looking at crashes,
people looking at emergency vehicles across the road
and those types of things.
So, watch out for that.
Know the characteristics of vehicles and road users.
Today when I was out with Arielle, we were going up a hill,
she was passing a big truck.
And I said to her,
"What's going to happen to the big truck on the hill?"
Understand that big trucks that are loaded
and carrying freight are going to slow down on hills
and mountains when they're going uphill.
So, you're probably want to get around them and pass,
those types of things. Okay?
All right. So, we're going to leave it there for tonight.
Hit that thumbs up button,
leave a comment down in the comments section.
We'll do what we can to help you out to get a license
and those types of things.
So, if you pass your license in the last couple of weeks,
congratulations on that, all the best.
And if you got a test coming up this week,
good luck on that.
And remember, pick the best answer.
Not necessarily the right answer.
Have a great night. Bye now.