Sharing the Road

At this point in the course, you have learned, we hope, about driving in optimal conditions as well as in poor conditions. You have also read about handling emergencies and how to “read” other drivers. Now it’s time to learn more about how defensive drivers “share our streets and roads”. After all, you are not the only one out there, right?

You learned early on in this course that we have traffic laws and rules of the road for an important reason: When we all work from the same playbook, our streets are as safe as they can be. Unfortunately, there are times that others will change the playbook to suit their own needs.

In an earlier chapter, you reviewed the purpose and meaning of many common signs and traffic signals – traffic control devices. Now it’s time to learn about something you may not think of as a traffic control device – people and other vehicles. Depending on what or whom you meet on the road, there are certain things you should do and certain things you should not do. It all depends on the situation.