Road Safety
What this domain tests
Road Safety turns the rules of the road into scenarios: speed and following distance, right of way, school buses, emergency vehicles, restraints, impairment and distraction.
Core rules
- Speed: 50 km/h in cities, towns and villages unless posted otherwise, and 90 km/h on provincial highways unless posted; always drive to conditions.
- Following distance: at least two seconds in good conditions, and double or more on ice, snow, rain or in darkness.
- School buses: when red lights flash and the stop arm extends on an undivided road, traffic in both directions must stop until the lights stop flashing. On a divided highway, only traffic moving in the same direction as the bus must stop.
- Emergency vehicles: Manitoba's move-over law requires you to slow well below the posted limit and change lanes if it is safe when passing stopped emergency vehicles with lights flashing.
- Restraints: everyone wears a seat belt; the driver is responsible for passengers under 18, and young children must be in an approved child restraint until they meet Manitoba's age and height thresholds.
- Impairment: .08 is a Criminal Code offence, Manitoba also sanctions drivers from .05, and novice drivers must have zero alcohol and zero cannabis. Refusing a breath demand carries the same consequences as failing.
- Distraction: hand-held devices are prohibited; novice drivers may not use any electronic device, hands-free included.
Worked example
You are travelling at 90 km/h on a two-lane rural highway when the school bus ahead stops and its red lights begin flashing. You stop and stay stopped until the lights are switched off and the stop arm retracted, even if the children appear clear, and so does traffic approaching from the opposite direction. If the road were divided by a median, only traffic behind the bus would be required to stop.
Traps that cost marks
- Slowing for a school bus instead of stopping.
- Ignoring move-over when an emergency vehicle is stopped on the shoulder.
- Treating an amber light as a signal to accelerate.
- Relying on mirrors without a shoulder check before a lane change.