Before Moving Off and the Safe Driving Routine 開車前的準備及例行程序
Before getting in, check for obstructions and children near the vehicle, paying particular attention to the blind spots at the rear, because these areas are hard to see once you are seated. Drivers of large vehicles such as buses and lorries may have no inside mirror, so their blind spots are larger.
Once seated, check that all doors, including passenger doors, are shut, that the driving seat is correctly positioned, that the mirrors are clean and properly adjusted, that seat belts are on and that your mobile phone's hands-free kit is ready. Secure any child safety locks when children are in the vehicle. No passenger or load may obstruct your movement or view. Wear secured footwear that fully encloses the foot, not loose shoes, open back shoes, sandals or high heels.
Before moving off, turning, changing lanes, slowing down, stopping, reversing or overtaking, use the think – look – signal – look again routine. Signal when it is safe, and make the signal correct, clear and in good time.
Before moving off, use your mirrors or other monitoring displays and also look around for a final check, watching for pedestrians beside the vehicle and small children hidden from view. Signal, then move off only when you can do so safely without making other vehicles change speed or direction.
Rules on the Road 行車時的規則
Keep to the left unless traffic signs or road markings indicate otherwise, you intend to overtake or turn right, or you have to pass stationary vehicles or pedestrians on the road. Do not drive on a footpath, pavement, hard shoulder, hard strip or verge. Overtake only on the right of the other vehicle. When being overtaken, do not speed up, and slow down if necessary. In a traffic hold-up, do not cut into another lane or overtake vehicles waiting ahead.
Drive with due care and attention. While the vehicle is in motion, you must not hold a mobile phone or other telecommunication equipment in your hand or between your head and shoulder. If you really need to take a call, use a hands-free device and keep it short, or stop in a safe place, or ask a passenger for help. Do not drive wearing earphones. If you feel tired, stop in a suitable parking space to rest, but never on an expressway or a road with fast moving traffic.
Use the horn only to warn other road users of danger, never as a rebuke, and do not sound it in a Silent zone. Flashing your headlamps has only one meaning: it lets others know you are there. Do not make a U-turn unless you can do so without endangering or obstructing other road users. When reversing, give way to other traffic and pedestrians and do not rely on reversing lights or alarms. If you cannot see clearly behind, get someone to guide you, and never reverse from a side road into a main road.
Even if you leave the vehicle only briefly, for example to help a passenger, you must turn off the engine, engage first gear (manual) or park mode (automatic) and firmly apply the parking brake. Unless exempted, it is an offence to let the engine run for more than 3 minutes in aggregate within any continuous 60 minutes while the vehicle is stationary. Stopping because of traffic conditions or to board or alight passengers is generally exempt.
Stopping Distance 停車距離
Stopping distance is thinking distance plus braking distance. Thinking distance is how far the vehicle travels after the driver sees the danger and before the brakes are on. Braking distance is how far it travels after the brakes are on until it stops.
On a dry road, with an alert driver and good brakes and tyres, the shortest stopping distances are: 40 km/h, 10 m + 10 m = 20 m; 60 km/h, 15 m + 20 m = 35 m; 80 km/h, 20 m + 40 m = 60 m.
On wet roads the braking distance doubles but the thinking distance does not, so the total stopping distance is not simply doubled. At 60 km/h, for example, the stopping distance becomes 15 m + 40 m = 55 m.
Different factors affect each part. Slow reactions, tiredness, illness or lack of concentration greatly increase thinking distance. Wet and slippery roads and poor brakes or tyres greatly increase braking distance.
Speed and the Gap from the Vehicle in Front 車速及與前車的距離
The maximum speed on all roads is 50 km/h unless speed limit signs show otherwise. A speed limit is the maximum allowed, not a promise that the speed is safe. Never drive so fast that you cannot stop well within the distance you can see to be clear, and go much more slowly on wet roads or in fog or mist. Do not brake sharply except in an emergency.
The safe rule is to leave your stopping distance between you and the vehicle in front. In good conditions, a reasonable and practical rule is a two-second time gap, and more if you are driving a heavy vehicle. Make the gap much bigger on wet roads or if your tyres, brakes or health are below par. If a vehicle moves into the gap ahead of you, drop back to regain a safe gap.
To judge a two-second gap, pick an easily identifiable mark on the road or roadside ahead. As the vehicle in front passes it, say 'one thousand one, one thousand two' at a normal speaking rate. If you reach the mark before you finish, you are too close. In bad conditions, double the count to four seconds, or even more.
Heavy vehicles need almost 50 percent more distance than cars to stop, so do not brake abruptly or cut suddenly in front of them, and leave a lot more distance from a tractor-trailer. Alongside a long vehicle, just behind its doors, is another blind spot, so do not stay there. Long vehicles also need extra road space to turn, so give them room.
Practice
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