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Switch on your turn signal, check your rearview mirrors as you move
along, and glance over your shoulder as often as necessary. Try to blend
smoothly with the traffic flow.
Driving on the Freeway
Once you are on the freeway, adjust your speed to the posted limit or to
the prevailing rate if it's slower. Stay in the right lane unless you want to
pass. If you are on a two-lane freeway, treat the right lane as the slow lane
and the left lane as the passing lane.
If you are on
a
three-lane freeway, treat the right lane as the slower-speed
through lane, the middle lane as the higher-speed through lane, and the
left lane as the passing lane.
Before changing lanes, check your rearview mirrors. Then use your turn
signal.
Just before you leave the lane, glance quicklyover your shoulder to make
sure there isn't another vehicle in your "blind" spot.
If you are moving from an outside to a center lane on a freeway having
more than two lanes, make sure another vehicle isn't about to move into
the same spot. Look at the
vehicles two lanes over and watch for telltale
signs: turn signals flashing, an increase in speed, or moving toward the
edge of the lane. Be prepared to delay your move.
Once you are moving on the freeway, make certain you allow a
reasonable following distance. Expect to move slightly slower at night.
Leaving the Freeway
When you want to leave the freeway, move to the proper lane well in
advance. Dashing across lanes at the last minute is dangerous. If you miss
your exit do not, under any circumstances, stop and back up. Drive on to
the next exit.
At each exit point is a deceleration lane. Ideally
it
should be long enough
for you to enter it at freeway speed (after signaling, of course) and then
do
your braking before moving onto the exit ramp. Unfortunately, not all
deceleration lanes are long enough
--
some are too short for all the
braking. Decide when to start braking. I f you must brake on the through
lane, and if there is traffic close behind you, you can allow a little extra
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