Maine · Handbook chapter 4 · 4 min read

Setting your seat and mirrors, wearing safety belts, air bags and Maine's child passenger rules, then starting, moving off, stopping, steering, backing and avoiding needless idling.

Why this chapter matters

Most crash injuries are decided before the car moves: by how you sit, how your mirrors are set and whether everyone is buckled in. Maine law requires safety belts for the driver and every passenger. Key figures: 12 and under in the back, under 18, one minute of idling, a cup of gas every six minutes.

Seat and mirrors

• Sit upright, high enough to see the road, with your heel on the floor so you can pivot between brake and gas.
• The top of the wheel should be no higher than your shoulders and below your chin. Leave space between your chest and the wheel for the air bag, and do not lean the seat back.
• The head rest should touch the back of your head above ear level.
• Set the inside mirror to frame the rear window. For the left mirror, rest your head on the closed left window and set it so you can barely see the car's left rear edge; for the right mirror, lean so your head is under the rearview mirror.
• Adjust everything before you start: in heavy traffic you will have no time.

Safety belts and air bags

In Maine it is against the law to drive without a safety belt, and every passenger must be belted or in a child seat. Belts keep you behind the wheel and in control, slow your body with the car and stop you being thrown out. Your chances of surviving are up to five times greater if you stay inside the vehicle. At 30 mph, hitting the dash unbelted is like falling from a three-story building.

Wear the shoulder belt across your chest and shoulder, never under your arm or behind your back. Wear the lap belt low, across your hips, below your stomach. Air bags work with belts, not instead of them.

Children

• All children 12 and under should ride in the back seat, the safest place for any child.
• Never put a rear-facing child seat in front of an active passenger air bag.
• A child under 8 who weighs at least 55 but less than 80 pounds rides in a federally approved restraint (booster); lighter children ride in a child safety seat. (The online study guide still prints an older 40-pound figure.)
• Anyone under 18 who does not need a child restraint must wear a seat belt, and passengers 18 and older must be belted too.
• Small exceptions apply to rural mail carriers, newspaper delivery and taxi or limousine drivers carrying fare-paying passengers.

Starting and moving

Check the owner's manual. With the vehicle in Park and your foot on the brake, start the engine, check the gauges, turn on the low beams and lock the doors. To move off, check ahead, beside and behind, signal, then speed up gradually. In a manual car you learn to feel the clutch friction point.

Stopping and steering

Brake steadily and smoothly. If you must slow or stop where the driver behind will not expect it, tap the brake pedal three or four times. Always turn the wheel in the direction you want to go, forward or in reverse. Steer with your fingers, thumbs along the face of the wheel, and never hold the inside of the rim.

Backing

Check behind the vehicle before you get in, since children and small objects are hard to see. Turn and look through the rear window; mirrors and back-up cameras show only part of the picture. Back no faster than a slow walk, and steer toward the side you want the rear of the car to go. When you can, back into a parking space so you can drive forward when you leave.

Conservation

An idling car uses about a cup of gas every six minutes. Do not idle for more than one minute when starting or stopping; driving gently for the first few minutes warms the engine better.