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Connecticut driving lesson · Driving Behaviors & Space Cushion

Space behind, beside, blind spots and trouble spots

A 3-minute lesson from the Connecticut course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.

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Read time
3 minutes
Course unit
Driving Behaviors & Space Cushion
Checkpoint questions
4
Source pages
24

You can't fully control the driver behind you, but steady speed and early signals help. Beside you, keep room to maneuver, stay out of other drivers' blind spots, and slow down wherever people and traffic crowd together.

Managing space behind you:

  • Picking up or dropping off passengers: find a safe place out of traffic
  • Parallel parking with traffic behind: signal, pull next to the space, let cars pass, then park
  • Driving slowly: pull over when safe and let others pass; use turnouts or passing lanes
  • Slowing down: always check behind, especially at driveways or parking spaces
Handbook p. 24 ↗

Know the rule

If you're tailgated and there's a lane to the right, move over. If not, wait until the road ahead is clear, then reduce speed slowly. Never slow down quickly to discourage a tailgater — it raises your risk of being hit from behind.

Handbook p. 24 ↗

Space to the side:

  • Don't drive alongside others on multi-lane roads; move ahead or drop back
  • Don't crowd the centerline on two-lane roads; the center of your lane is generally safest
  • Make room for entering vehicles by moving over a lane if it's clear
  • Leave extra space next to parked cars — doors open and people step out
  • Give extra room to pedestrians, bicycles and children; never share a lane with them
Handbook p. 24 ↗

Know the rule

'Split the difference' between two hazards, but leave more space on the more dangerous side — for example, more room on the side an oncoming tractor-trailer will pass.

Handbook p. 24 ↗

Know the rule

Take hazards one at a time: if you're overtaking a bicycle while a car approaches, let the car pass first so you can give the bicycle room.

Handbook p. 24 ↗
3 feet

Minimum space between your vehicle and a bicycle when passing

Handbook p. 24 ↗

Blind spots:

  • Avoid driving on either side and slightly behind another vehicle
  • When passing, get through the other driver's blind spot quickly
  • Never stay alongside a truck or bus — their blind spots are large
Handbook p. 24 ↗

Slow down in trouble spots:

  • Shopping centers, parking lots and downtown areas
  • Rush hours
  • Narrow bridges and tunnels
  • Toll plazas, where lanes change and cars stop and start
  • Schools, playgrounds and residential streets
  • Railroad crossings — and don't pass if a grade crossing is ahead
Handbook p. 24 ↗

Put it into practice

A driver is riding your bumper on a two-lane road with no right lane. Instead of tapping your brakes, you wait for a clear straight stretch and gradually reduce speed so the tailgater can go around you.

Check your understanding

Read the question, decide on an answer, then open it to check the explanation. These are Roadwise study questions based on the source handbook.

You are being tailgated on a road with no adjacent lane to move into. What should you do?
  1. Wait for a clear road, then slow gradually
  2. Slow down quickly to discourage the tailgater
  3. Speed up to lose the tailgater
  4. Pull onto the shoulder and stop

Answer: Wait for a clear road, then slow gradually

If there's no right lane, wait until the road ahead is clear, then reduce speed slowly; never brake quickly to discourage a tailgater.

Handbook p. 24 ↗
You want to parallel park and there is traffic coming behind you. What should you do?
  1. Stop in the lane and back in right away
  2. Signal, pull next to the space, and let traffic pass
  3. Turn on your hazard lights and back in
  4. Drive past and circle the block

Answer: Signal, pull next to the space, and let traffic pass

Put on your turn signal, pull next to the space and allow following vehicles to pass before you park.

Handbook p. 24 ↗
You must drive between an oncoming car and a line of parked cars, and the oncoming vehicle is a tractor-trailer. Where should you position your car?
  1. Hug the parked cars as closely as possible
  2. Exactly in the center, equal space both sides
  3. A little more room on the side the truck passes
  4. Move onto the shoulder until it passes

Answer: A little more room on the side the truck passes

Split the difference between hazards, but leave a little more room on the more dangerous side, such as where a tractor-trailer will pass.

Handbook p. 24 ↗
Driving on either side and slightly to the rear of another vehicle puts you in its driver's blind spot.
  1. True
  2. False

Answer: True

Avoid driving on either side and slightly to the rear of another vehicle; you will be in their blind spot.

Handbook p. 24 ↗
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