Vermont · Handbook chapter 3 · 4 min read

Chapter 3: Driving safely, turns and right-of-way

Vermont basics: getting ready to drive, stopping distance, turn signals, left and right turns, the 4-second following distance, speed limits and right-of-way rules.

Why this chapter matters

Most crashes are caused by driver actions or errors. These everyday rules, from signaling to speed to who goes first, make up a large share of the permit test.

Getting started

• Practice first in an empty parking lot or on quiet roads.
• If traffic backs up behind you, the law requires you to pull over when safe and let it pass.
• Hold the wheel at 9 and 3 or 8 and 4, and use hand over hand steering for turns.
• Before driving: adjust the seat and mirrors, test the foot and parking brakes, fasten the belt, lock the doors and turn on the headlights.

Stopping

Four things must happen to stop: you see the danger, your brain tells your foot to brake, your foot moves to the pedal, and the brakes work. The average driver needs about 3/4 of a second to apply the brakes.

• Reaction distance: distance traveled from seeing the danger to stepping on the brake.
• Braking distance: distance from applying the brakes to stopping. It is much longer on wet, icy or gravel roads, and roads are especially slippery when rain first begins.

Signals

Signal at least 100 feet before turning or changing lanes. Signaling 3 to 5 seconds ahead covers this. If your turn signals or brake lights fail, use hand signals and get the lights fixed at once.

Left turns

• Signal 3 to 5 seconds ahead and slow gradually; check that no one is passing you on the left.
• On a multilane road, get into the left lane well before the turn.
• Position within one foot of the center line if safe.
• Keep your wheels straight while waiting, so a hit from behind will not push you into oncoming traffic.
• Oncoming vehicles and bicyclists have the right-of-way, and you must yield to pedestrians.

Right turns

• Approach about three feet from the right side of the road. Do not swing left first.
• Search left, front, right and quickly left again, and yield to pedestrians and bicyclists on the right.
• Turn into the nearest lane, then keep right unless passing or turning.

Following distance: four seconds

Count from when the vehicle ahead passes a fixed point until you reach it. Fewer than four seconds means you are too close. Allow more than four seconds in poor conditions, poor visibility or at higher speed.

Speed

• The maximum on all Vermont roads is 50 mph unless posted otherwise.
• On an Interstate the maximum is 65 mph unless posted otherwise.
• You must always drive at a speed that is reasonable for conditions. Sometimes even 10 mph can be unsafe.

Right-of-way

1. Yield to pedestrians, bicyclists and traffic already in the intersection.
2. At a YIELD sign, slow enough to stop if needed and enter only when clear.
3. At a four-way stop, the first vehicle to arrive goes first. If two arrive together, the driver on the left yields to the driver on the right.
4. Turning left, yield to all oncoming traffic.
5. Coming from a driveway, alley, parking lot or T-intersection, yield to all traffic on the road.