Turning left on red and 4 other things you learn when (re)reading Pa.'s driver's manual

Joel Shannon

York Daily Record

Don't drink and drive. Follow the signs (especially the speed limit). Do what police tell you.

Some of the things you'll learn by reading Pennsylvania's Driver's Manual are common sense to most drivers. But tucked away in the 102 pages are also some facts that you might have forgotten — if you ever knew them at all.

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Here are five:

You can turn left on red — in a specific case: "You may also turn left after you stop at a red light, if you are in the left lane and are turning left from a one-way street onto another one-way street, unless a sign tells you not to turn. You must first stop and yield to pedestrians and other traffic."
Remember the four-second rule? The manual recommends keeping a distance of four seconds between your vehicle and the one in front of you. A little math reveals that at 60 miles per hour, that's a distance of well over 20 car lengths.
Where are those speed limit signs posted? Sometimes you're barraged with reminders; sometimes you can't remember the last time you saw a speed limit sign. If you're on an interstate, you might need to look out for the next interchange. Here's the logic behind where the signs should be posted: "The maximum speed limit on interstate highways is posted after each interchange. On other highways the maximum speed limit would be posted at approximately 1⁄2 mile intervals."
There are a bunch of situations where you need to have your headlights on — or face a pretty stiff fine. Among them: When visibility is low, any time your windshield wipers are on, in work zones and more. In these cases, if you don't have your headlights and tail lights on, you could be fined $100. Daytime running lights don't cut it.
Those signs actually mean something. There's that sign you see all the time and have no idea what it's trying to tell you. Maybe it's the "slippery when wet" sign, which is just the outline of a car driving straight with a curved trail behind it. Maybe it's the "low shoulder" sign, which looks like a driver who has mistakenly ended up half on and half off the sidewalk. Or maybe it's that nebulous "right turn signal" sign. In any case, you'll find the true meaning of your mystery sign in the driver's manual.

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