Kentucky · Handbook chapter 8 · 4 min read

Chapter 8: Safe driving tips

Visual search, Kentucky's default speed limits, driving in poor visibility and on slippery roads, stopping distance, the 4-second following distance, space cushions, backing, headlights, horn and signals.

Why this chapter matters

Speed and space questions appear on almost every permit test. Learn Kentucky's default limits (65, 55, 35 and 15 mph), the 4-second following rule and the headlight hours.

Visual search

• Look ahead 20 to 30 seconds down your path, and keep your eyes moving.
• Check to the sides for anyone who might cross your path, and use your mirrors to track traffic behind, especially before changing lanes, slowing or entering an intersection.
• Glance at the speedometer about once a minute.

Kentucky speed limits

When no limit is posted:

The secretary of transportation may raise certain highways to 70 mph.

Adjusting speed

• Darkness: never drive so fast that you cannot stop within the distance your headlights show.
• Rain, fog or snow: if you cannot see more than 100 feet, do not drive faster than 25 mph, and use low beams.
• Intersections, hills and curves: slow down so you can stop for something you cannot yet see.
• Curves: slow down before you enter, then accelerate gently through. Braking hard in the curve can cost you traction.
• Slippery roads: slow down at the first sign of rain, snow, sleet or ice. Pump the brakes gently, or use steady pressure if you have ABS.
• Hydroplaning: tires can ride up on water like water skis. Slow down in the wet, and keep tires properly inflated with good tread.
• Flooded roads: do not drive through standing water. Find another route.

Stopping distance

Total stopping distance adds up three parts:

• Perception time: about 3/4 to 1 second for an alert driver to recognize the need to stop.
• Reaction time: about another 3/4 to 1 second to move your foot to the brake.
• Braking distance: at 50 mph on dry pavement, about 158 feet.

Following distance and space

Rear-end crashes are the most common kind. Keep at least 4 seconds behind the vehicle ahead: when its rear passes a fixed point, count "one thousand one" to "one thousand four". If you reach the point first, drop back. Following more closely than is reasonable and prudent is illegal.

Leave more space on slippery roads, behind trucks, buses and trailers, at night or in bad weather, behind vehicles that must stop at railroad crossings, and behind motorcycles.

• Stay out of other drivers' blind spots and away from the center line.
• Make room for merging traffic, and give pedestrians, children and bicyclists extra space.
• When a tractor-trailer passes, move to the outside of your lane.
• On interstates, move left before passing vehicles parked on the shoulder.
• Help tailgaters keep back by holding a steady speed and signaling early.

Backing

Avoid backing into traffic. If you miss an interstate exit, never back up or turn around: go on to the next exit.

Communicating

• Headlights must be on from half an hour after sunset to half an hour before sunrise, and are wise in rain, snow, fog and whenever you have trouble seeing others.
• Horn: a light tap is usually enough, for example when a pedestrian or bicyclist is moving into your path. Do not use it near blind pedestrians.
• Signals: signal every time you turn, change lanes, pass, merge, pull away from or over to the curb, or enter or leave a freeway, even when you see no one. A signal does not give you the right of way; cancel it afterward.
• Your car must have mechanical signals; hand signals cannot be used.
• Signal before you slow down to turn off a road that has no turn or exit lane, or to park or turn just before an intersection. Your brake lights also warn drivers behind that you are slowing.