What Every Driver Must Know (Michigan Edition): Day 2 Notes

What Every Driver Must Know (Michigan Edition): Day 2 Notes

*Note: Some information is extracted from What Every Driver Must Know, from the Michigan Secretary of State's Office.

Day 2:

  • The hand brake is parking brake/emergency brake
    • The "Park" light will be on if the hand brake is on
    • Don't leave the light on, or any other lights except for ones on the tool panel
  • The big pedal is the brake
  • The little pedal is the accelerator/gas
  • First rule of driving: Don't crash!
    • Use your common sense! It's really not that hard!
    • Even if you think you have the right of way, you should definitely stop or yield to prevent a crash from happening - it could help save your life (and lots of money and time spent!)
  • When the airbag light is on, the airbag is off
    • It has weight sensors
  • ABS = anti-lock brake system
  • If your engine heats up, turn on your heater
  • Never take the cap off the radiatior when it's hot - you don't want to get burned
  • When adjusting in the car, seatbelt goes on last
  • Lock the doors
  • When changing lanes, use the acronym SMOG to help you remember exactly what to do...
    • Signal
    • Mirror
    • Over (your shoulder)
    • Go (if safe)
  • When shifting to a left lane, look in the left mirror
  • The rearview mirror should be centered on the windows/lane/road
  • It's important to use mirrors...
    • When stopping
    • When turning
    • When changing lanes
  • Fron Reference Points & Rear Reference Points will be tested (on the driving portion, of course)
  • You must park within 12 inches from the curb
  • You can only start the engine when you press down on the brake (for some cars)

Three Levels of Acceleration:

  • Engine acceleration
  • Light acceleration
  • Acceleration
  • Don't underhand steer - when/if you crash, your hands aren't going to turn out too great when the airbag deploys
  • Your hand position on the steering wheel should be at 9 and 3 o'clock, or 8 and 4 o'clock
  • Hand over hand steering: when one hand crosses over the other
  • Look ahead for braking

Three Levels of Braking:

  • Coasting braking - over brake, but not on
  • Controlled braking - light push down
  • Threshold braking - the point just before your tires lock up (ABS kicks in)
  • Gradually press down on brake pedal
    • Don't slam it down, you could severely damage your brake over time - something you do NOT want to happen
  • Turn around when backing
    • Go slowly, make corrections along the way
    • Look both ways
    • Check blindspots
    • Slowly steer - if you want your back end to go left, steer left (turn wheel)
    • Turn the wheel in the direction you want to go
  • Trafic control devices are signs, lines, signals, etc.
  • Colors matter for signs
  • Red, black, and white are regulatory signs
    • Laws
  • Yellow & Fluorescent Optic Yellow are warning/caution signs
  • Green, blue, and brown are guide signs
    • Green: directional
    • Blue: services
    • Brown: recreational/cultural interest (owned by the government)
  • Orange & Fluroescent Pink
    • Orange: construction/maintenance work; this overrides all other signs
      • For example, if you see a vertical rectangular sign stating the legal speed limit is 45 mph, but a contruction sign tells you to go 35 mph, you must go 35 mph
    • Pink: incident signs (temporary)
  • Shapes of signs matter as well
  • Octagon = Stop
  • Triangle = Yield
  • Diamond = Warning
  • Pentagon = School
  • Pennant = Advance warning/no passing
  • Horizontal Rectangle = Directions
  • Vertical Rectangle = Law
  • Round = Railroad crossing
  • Crossbuck = Railroad crossing
  • Regardless of the shape of the sign, be sure to note all of them and do as they say