Florida · Handbook chapter 6 · 6 min read

Florida rules for starting out, backing, blind spots, stopping distances, following distance, intersections, roundabouts, limited access highways, the Move Over Law, parking, passing, speed limits, lanes and turns.

Why this chapter matters

This is the biggest chapter in the handbook and supplies many exam questions. It is full of distances and speeds: 4 seconds, 100 feet, 200 feet, 500 feet, 15 / 20 / 30 / 50 feet, 20 / 30 / 55 / 70 mph.

Getting ready

Before you start the engine: make sure the car is in park or neutral, adjust the seat and mirrors, clear anything blocking your view, lock the doors and buckle up.

Backing up: check behind the car before you get in, put your right arm on the passenger seat back and look through the rear window. Mirrors and cameras do not show everything directly behind you. Back slowly.

Blind spots are near the rear corners and cannot be seen in mirrors. Turn your head before changing lanes or passing, and do not ride in another driver's blind spot.

Stopping distance at 50 mph

Doubling your speed makes braking distance and impact 4 times greater; tripling makes them 9 times greater.

Following distance

Keep at least four seconds behind the car ahead in good conditions. Count from when it passes a fixed object. Add more space in rain, at night or in fog, when being passed, when towing, when stopped on a hill, and behind motorcycles, buses and trucks that stop at railroad crossings. It is illegal to follow a fire truck answering an alarm closer than 500 feet. A truck or tow vehicle must stay 300 feet behind another truck outside cities.

Intersections and right-of-way

• After stopping, yield to traffic already in the intersection and to pedestrians and bicyclists.
• At a four-way stop, first to arrive goes first; if tied, yield to the driver on the right.
• At a two-way stop, a turning driver yields to one going straight.
• Coming out of a driveway or alley, yield to traffic and to people on the sidewalk.

At an open intersection (no signs or signals) you must yield if a vehicle is already in it, if you are entering a state highway from a secondary road, if you are entering a paved road from an unpaved one, or if you are turning left with oncoming traffic.

Roundabouts

Traffic moves counter-clockwise. Yield to traffic already in the circle, do not stop or change lanes inside it, and signal before you exit. In a multi-lane roundabout, use the right lane to go straight or right and the left lane to go straight, left or make a U-turn. Yield to pedestrians in crosswalks at entries and exits.

Limited access highways

Pedestrians, bicycles and motor scooters of 150 cc or less are not allowed. To enter, signal, speed up in the acceleration lane and merge when there is a gap; stop in the acceleration lane only if traffic is too heavy. To leave, move into the exit lane, signal and slow in the deceleration lane. If you miss your exit, go to the next one. Never back up on a ramp unless you see WRONG WAY or DO NOT ENTER. A broken-down car must be moved off the pavement and can stay no more than six hours.

Move Over Law

The law protects stopped law enforcement and emergency vehicles, tow trucks, sanitation and utility vehicles, road crews showing warning lights, and disabled vehicles showing hazard lights or with people visibly present.

• Multi-lane road: move out of the lane next to the stopped vehicle. If you cannot, slow to 20 mph below the speed limit.
• Two-lane road: slow to 20 mph below the limit. If the limit is 20 mph or less, slow to 5 mph.

Parking

Park on the right, parallel to the curb and within 12 inches of it. Set the parking brake, take the keys and lock up. On hills:

You may not park on crosswalks, sidewalks, bike lanes, bridges, overpasses, in tunnels or intersections, by yellow curbs, double parked, or within:

Passing

Signal, check your blind spot and give a tap of the horn by day or a flash of the lights at night. Return to your lane when you can see the passed car's tires in your mirror, and before you come within 200 feet of oncoming traffic. Never exceed the speed limit to pass. Do not pass:

• where a solid line is on your side, or in no passing zones;
• on hills or curves where you cannot see 500 feet ahead;
• within 100 feet of an intersection, bridge, tunnel or railroad crossing;
• a stopped school bus with its stop arm out, or a car stopped at a crosswalk.

When someone passes you, do not speed up. Florida law requires you to leave the left lane when a faster vehicle overtakes you. Passing on the right is legal only with two or more lanes in your direction or when the other car is turning left.

Speed limits

Where the limit is 70 mph, the minimum is 50 mph. There is no 10 mph "buffer"; any speed over the limit can be ticketed. Driving so slowly that you block traffic is also illegal.

Lanes and turns

• Drive in the right lane on two-lane roads, and in the right lanes on four-lane roads, except to pass.
• The center lane of three- and five-lane roads is for left turns only.
• Signal at least 100 feet before turning, and signal for lane changes. Do not use your signal to tell others they can pass.
• Hand signals are given from the left side: arm up for right, straight out for left, down for slow or stop.
• Turn right into the right lane. A left turn may end in any lawful, safe lane.
• Use a three-point turn only when the road is too narrow for a U-turn, and never on a curve, hill or highway.
• HOV lanes (diamond symbol) are for vehicles with two or more people or approved low-emission vehicles.