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Section B-4 RULES OF THE ROAD
This chapter highlights key traffic laws and safe driving
principles related to those laws. A more complete discussion of
driving techniques is found in Section C of this manual,
Safety Tips for Safe Driving and Sharing the Road.
Even on a short trip, you may be faced with many dangerous
driving conditions. Statistics show that half of all vehicle
crashes occur within 25 miles of home. The rules of the road
are those laws, regulations and practices that provide safe
vehicle movement on the roadways:
signaling, turning,
passing and stopping.
• Learn the traffic rules and follow them.
• Be willing to yield to other drivers to avoid a crash.
• Always watch carefully for advance warning and
information signs.
• Be a courteous driver.
• Always obey instructions of traffic officers.
Driving on the Right
Side of the Road
In the United States, Canada
and most other countries, right
hand traffic is the rule. This
means we drive on the right side
of the road, and turn right when
going around traffic circles,
roundabouts or town squares.
Obeying Officers
You must obey traffic officers at all times. There will be times
when an officer will instruct you to do something that
ordinarily would be a violation of traffic regulations. The
officer will do this only in case of an emergency when it is the
only way to keep traffic flowing smoothly and safely. A
common example: A police officer holding up traffic at a
green light and permitting a funeral procession to continue
through a red light.
Coasting Prohibited
While traveling on a downgrade, NEVER coast with the
transmission of the vehicle in neutral. Also, drivers of manual
transmission vehicles must not coast with the clutch depressed.
Driving in neutral and/or with the clutch depressed reduces the
driver’s control of the car.
Use of Headlights
• Required Night Use: Your car headlights must be turned
on 30 minutes after sunset until 30 minutes before sunrise.
• Required Daylight / Inclement Weather Use: Also, your
car headlights must be turned on:
1. At any time when daylight is not good enough for
you to see persons or vehicles clearly at a distance of
200 feet ahead; and
2.
When rain, mist, snow, or other precipitation requires
constant use of windshield wipers.
Headlights turned on during daylight hours will make your
vehicle easier to see to oncoming vehicles and pedestrians.
Use headlights when driving at dusk. Even if you can see
clearly, headlights help other drivers see you as much as they
help you see them. Get into the habit of turning headlights on
when using windshield wipers.
Remember, using headlights
when wipers are in use is not just a good safety precaution
— it’s Tennessee law!
• Dimming of Headlights Required: When your vehicle’s
high beam headlights are on, you must dim or lower the
beam when an oncoming vehicle is within
500 feet
(approximately the distance of one city block) or when
you are following another vehicle within
500 feet.
Dimming headlights when following other vehicles is an
important safety step. The glare from your headlights in a
rear view mirror can blind another driver including a
motorcyclist.
• Limited Use of Parking Lights or Auxiliary Fog Lights:
The following procedures should be followed when using
these types of lights:
1. The law requires a vehicle stopped or parked on a
road or shoulder to have parking lights on when
limited visibility conditions exist.
2. Do not drive a vehicle with only the parking lights on
when driving at night or in inclement weather. The
small size of parking lights may cause other drivers to
think your vehicle is farther away than it actually is.
When there is limited visibility, the use of parking
lights alone is not only unsafe, it is against the law.
3. It is also illegal to have auxiliary lights or fog lights
on by themselves or on at times when you are
required to dim high beam headlights. These very
bright lights make it difficult for oncoming drivers to
see, and the glare may reflect blindingly in the rear
view mirror of vehicles you are following.
•
Daytime Running Lights: Some newer vehicles have
headlights that are on anytime the vehicle is running.
These lights make it easier for others to see the vehicle,
even in daylight. This reduces the likelihood of collisions.
Effective January 1, 2018, no vehicle operated in Tennessee
shall be equipped with any steady-burning lights that display
to the front of the vehicle in any color other than white or
amber or in any combination of colors other than white and
amber. There are exceptions for certain vehicles.
SOME BASIC RULES ARE: