Safe Driving Practices: Speed, Following Distance, Lane Use, and Turns
Safe driving for passenger vehicles centers on space and speed management. Following distance should be larger than for a car: use at least one second per ten feet of vehicle length plus one second, which for a 40-foot bus means roughly five seconds at highway speed, and add more for rain, night, or heavy loads. Speed must be adjusted for conditions, load, and stopping distance-the posted limit is a maximum, not a target.
Lane use: keep right except to pass, signal early, and check mirrors and blind spots before changing lanes. Because buses are large and slow to accelerate, plan lane changes well in advance and avoid squeezing into gaps. Make turns from the proper lane, swing wide for off-tracking, and complete turns without crossing into oncoming lanes. At intersections, watch for pedestrians and cyclists who may be in your blind spots.
Traps: questions that offer the car following-distance rule (the three-second rule) as the answer for a bus (it is too short), assuming the posted speed is always safe, and forgetting to add following distance when the bus is full. Another trap is turning from the wrong lane or cutting the corner.
Rule of thumb: one second per ten feet of length plus one. Worked example: a 40-foot bus at highway speed needs about five seconds of following distance in good conditions, and more in rain or at night.