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Kansas driving lesson · Special Driving Situations

Work zones and animals

A 4-minute lesson from the Kansas 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
4 minutes
Course unit
Special Driving Situations
Checkpoint questions
6
Source pages
91, 92, 93

Work zones change lanes and speeds, sometimes daily, and put workers a few feet from traffic. Animals, especially deer, appear with no warning. In both cases, slow down, stay alert and keep control.

About 40,000

People injured each year in motor vehicle crashes in U.S. work zones

Handbook p. 91 ↗

Know the rule

Watch for cones, barrels, signs, large vehicles and workers in bright vests. Temporary work zone signs are orange with black letters or symbols. If no reduced limit is posted, obey the normal posted limit.

Handbook p. 91 ↗

Driving through work zones:

  • Reduce speed, obey signs and flaggers, and increase following distance
  • Stay alert in long-term zones; lane shifts and closures can change daily
  • Merge as soon as possible, at the first notice of the work zone
  • Use extreme caution at night, whether or not workers are present
  • Move your lane position away from workers and equipment when possible
  • Mobile work (line painting, patching, mowing) continues until the 'End Road Work' sign
  • Expect delays and leave early, or use alternate routes
Handbook p. 92 ↗

Know the rule

Don't swerve into oncoming traffic or off the road to avoid an animal. Swerving may cause a worse crash; the safest choice may be to hit the animal while keeping control.

Handbook p. 92 ↗

Avoiding animal collisions:

  • Take care at dawn and dusk and from October through December, when animals are most active
  • Be alert where deer crossing signs are posted; they mark areas with many deer crashes
  • Scan far ahead and to the sides for eyes reflecting your headlights, especially near woods and water
  • Slow down near animals by the road; they may bolt, and deer travel in groups
  • Use flashers or a headlight signal to warn other drivers
Handbook p. 92 ↗

Know the rule

If you have time to avoid an animal: slow down, tap your brakes to warn others and sound your horn. Flashing headlights may make a deer freeze. With no one close behind, brake hard without locking the wheels.

Handbook p. 92 ↗

Know the rule

If a collision is inevitable, don't swerve. Keep your vehicle under control and on the roadway.

Handbook p. 92 ↗

Know the rule

Report a crash involving a large animal, such as a deer or farm animal, to police. For a pet, try to notify the owner if homes are nearby, but don't go inside someone's home.

Handbook p. 93 ↗

Know the rule

Dogs that chase vehicles tend to approach in a straight line. Slow down until the dog is near, then accelerate away from it.

Handbook p. 93 ↗
Bicycle/deer/emergency vehicle crossing warning signs composite
Deer Crossing sign (second from left) among other warning signs

Put it into practice

At dusk in November a deer leaps onto the two-lane road with a truck approaching the other way. Brake firmly, stay in your lane and keep control. Swerving into the truck or the ditch would likely be worse than hitting the deer.

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.

About how many people are injured annually in the U.S. due to motor vehicle crashes in work zones?
  1. Approximately 400,000
  2. Approximately 4 million
  3. Approximately 40,000
  4. Approximately 4,000

Answer: Approximately 40,000

The handbook states approximately 40,000 people per year are injured in work zone crashes.

Handbook p. 91 ↗
In a work zone, when should you merge into the correct lane?
  1. At the very last possible moment
  2. When you reach the first cone
  3. As soon as you notice the approaching work zone
  4. Only when a flagger directs you to

Answer: As soon as you notice the approaching work zone

Merging early helps maintain steady traffic flow and posted speeds through a work zone.

Handbook p. 92 ↗
During what months does the handbook say big game animals like deer are most active, increasing collision risk?
  1. October through December
  2. March through May
  3. June through August
  4. January through March

Answer: October through December

The handbook advises extra caution from October through December, when deer are most active, as well as at dawn and dusk.

Handbook p. 92 ↗
If a collision with a large animal seems unavoidable, what does the handbook recommend?
  1. Swerve onto the shoulder to avoid it
  2. Do not swerve; keep the vehicle under control
  3. Brake hard and lock the wheels
  4. Swerve into the oncoming lane if clear

Answer: Do not swerve; keep the vehicle under control

Swerving to avoid an animal can cause a more serious crash; the handbook says the safer choice is often to stay in control and hit the animal rather than swerve.

Handbook p. 92 ↗
Why can flashing your headlights at a deer in the road make things worse?
  1. It is illegal to flash headlights in Kansas
  2. It makes deer run toward the vehicle
  3. It blinds drivers behind you
  4. Deer fixate on headlights and may freeze

Answer: Deer fixate on headlights and may freeze

Page 92: deer tend to fixate on headlights, so flashing them may cause the animal to freeze in the road.

Handbook p. 92 ↗
According to the handbook, dogs that chase vehicles tend to approach how?
  1. In a zigzag pattern
  2. In a wide circle
  3. In a straight line
  4. From behind the vehicle only

Answer: In a straight line

Dogs that chase vehicles tend to approach in a straight line; slow down until the dog is near, then accelerate away.

Handbook p. 93 ↗
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