Speed Limits, Following Distance, and Safe Driving Practices
Speed-limit and following-distance items test whether you can choose a safe speed for conditions, not just recite a number on a sign.
Kentucky limits
Unless posted otherwise, Kentucky's rural interstate limit is 65 mph, with 70 mph on designated rural stretches; urban interstate is typically 55 mph. Secondary roads are generally 55 mph. School zones are commonly posted at 20 mph when children are present. Work-zone speeding fines can double when workers are present. The basic speed law still applies: never drive faster than is safe for weather, traffic, or visibility.
Following distance
Use the three-second rule in ideal conditions: pick a fixed object, and when the car ahead passes it, count one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two, one-thousand-three. If you reach the object before three seconds, you are too close. Add at least one second for rain, two or more for ice or fog, and more when following a motorcycle or large truck. At 55 mph, three seconds is about 240 feet.
Worked example
You are driving 65 mph on a rural interstate in heavy rain. The car ahead passes a sign; you reach it in about two seconds. Reasoning: three seconds is the dry-weather minimum, and rain requires more. Two seconds is unsafe; ease off, increase the gap to four or more seconds, and reduce speed.
Traps
Treating the posted limit as a target in fog or rain; using a two-second gap because everyone does; and forgetting that work-zone fines increase when workers are present. A speed limit is a maximum, not a minimum - driving too slowly in the left lane can be cited.