Being Safe and Responsible On The Road

Fasten your seatbelt! The passengers inside a moving vehicle are traveling the same speed as the speedometer indicates. When a vehicle hits a solid object the people inside keep moving until something stops them. If you are not wearing your seatbelt, you will be either thrown out of the vehicle, or the steering wheel, windshield, dashboard, other objects or another person might be what stops you. This "human collision" often causes serious injury.

Everyone is responsible for avoiding collisions. Even if someone else does something wrong, you may be found responsible for a collision if you could have done something to avoid it.

Be courteous while driving. It means giving other drivers space to change lanes, not cutting them off and signaling your turns lane changes properly.

Drive defensively. It means being able to see dangerous situations before they happen and to respond quickly and effectively to prevent them.

Turn on headlights one-half hour before sunset and keep them on until one-half hour after sunrise. Don't drive with only one headlight or with lights that not aimed properly.

Use signals to tell other drivers what you want to do. Give the correct signal well before the action and make sure other drivers can see it.

Keep to the right of the road unless you want to turn left or pass another vehicle. Get into the habit of driving in the right lane, leaving the other lanes clear for passing. Left lane is the passing lane in all multilane roads.

Obey speed limits. Where there are no posted speed limits, the maximum speed in 50 km/h in cities, towns, villages and built-up areas.

Yield. At an intersection without stop signs or lights, you must yield the right-of-way to any vehicle approaching from the right. At an intersection with stop signs at all corners, if two vehicles stop at the same time, the vehicle on the left must yield to the vehicle on the right.

Stop for school buses. No matter what direction you are traveling in, you must stop whenever you approach a stopped school bus with its upper alternating red lights flashing, unless you are on a road with a median. (A median is a raised, lowered or earth strip dividing a road where vehicles travel in both directions.) You must obey the school bus law on any road, no matter how many lanes or what the speed limit. Be prepared to stop for a school bus at any time, not just within school hours. If you don't stop for a school bus, you can be fined $200 to $1,000 and get six demerit points for a first offence.

Shoulder check while parking. If you are reversing straight back or to any direction, turn you body and head to the direction and look back over your shoulder. If you need to remove your seat belt to turn your body to see properly when reversing, do so. But don't forget to buckle up again before moving forward.

Upon entering a freeway, always use the acceleration lane to raise the speed to the common speed of traffic on the freeway before merging with traffic. Be careful not to cut off any vehicle when joining the flow of traffic. It is dangerous and illegal for a slower moving vehicle to cut in front of a faster moving vehicle.

If you must use a cellular phone when driving, use a hands-free microphone. Make it a habit to use your cellular phone only when you are parked, or have a passenger use the phone.

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