Oregon · Handbook chapter 8 · 5 min read

Chapter 8: Safe driving and hazardous conditions

Oregon defensive driving, safety belts and child seats, communicating with other drivers, avoiding collisions, leaving the road, animals, headlight rules, night, fog, rain, snow, skids, traction tires, distracted and drowsy driving, and equipment failures.

Why this chapter matters

The knowledge test checks how you handle risk: what to do when a car drifts into your lane, how to steer out of a skid, when to dim your lights and what Oregon's phone law allows.

Defensive driving

Adjust for your vehicle, the road, the weather, traffic, lighting and your own condition. Keep your windows clear of stickers and objects so you can see in every direction, and always know your escape routes.

Safety belts and child seats

• Safety belts are mandatory for all drivers and passengers in every seat. Leave no slack, and never put the shoulder strap under your arm or behind your back.
• Children must ride in approved child safety seats until they are 8 or at least 4 feet 9 inches tall and the adult belt fits them.
• Infants must ride rear-facing until age 2.
• No one under 18 may ride on an external part of a vehicle, including a pickup bed. A dog in a pickup bed must be in a carrier or protected by a framework.

Communicating

Signal before you turn or change lanes, use your brake lights, turn on your headlights, use your horn as a reasonable warning, and use hazard lights when needed.

Avoiding a collision

You have three tools: stop quickly, turn quickly or speed up. You can usually turn faster than you can stop.

• Off the road: do not panic or brake hard. Grip the wheel, slow down, and steer back gently when it is safe; a sharp turn can send you across the road.
• Oncoming car in your lane: pull right, slow down and warn with your horn or lights. Never swerve into the other lane; the shoulder or ditch is usually safer than a head-on crash.
• Animals: brake or slow down. If you injure a domestic animal, stop, check on it and tell the owner or the police. If a horse rider raises a hand, stop unless that would cause a crash, and do not honk.

Lights

• Headlights are required from sunset to sunrise, and whenever you cannot see people or vehicles 1,000 feet ahead.
• Dim high beams within 500 feet of an oncoming vehicle and within 350 feet of a vehicle you follow. When you dim, turn off fog lights and other auxiliary lights too.
• Driving at night or in bad weather with only parking lights is illegal.
• At night, look slightly to the right of oncoming lights, toward the fog line. Be careful passing at dawn and dusk.

Weather

• Fog, dust or smoke: use low beams; high beams reflect back. Slow down; to pull off, go far right and turn on hazards.
• Rain: brake sooner and more gently, turn on headlights when wipers are on, and do not use cruise control. Even summer showers make roads slick. Slow down to avoid hydroplaning. After driving through water, brake gently to dry the brakes. Do not drive through flooded areas.
• Snow and ice: slow down, leave more room, no cruise control. Accelerate and brake gently. Bridges and shady spots freeze first, and roads are most slippery near freezing, not well below it.

Skids

1. Stay off the brakes until the vehicle slows.
2. Steer where you want to go, then straighten as the car recovers so it does not swing the other way.
3. Keep correcting until you are back in control.

Studded tires are generally allowed only from November 1 to March 31. Traction tires carry a mountain and snowflake symbol.

Distractions and fatigue

• Drivers under 18 may not use a cell phone or other mobile device while driving.
• Drivers 18 and older may use one only with a hands-free accessory needing minimal finger use.
• A TV or video screen may not be visible to the driver, and a sound system may not be loud enough to hear 50 feet away.
• Do not hold a person, pet or package in your lap.
• Yawning, nodding and drifting are signs of drowsiness: stop and rest.
• If an aggressive driver threatens you, stay out of the way and do not challenge them.

Equipment failures