A 3-minute lesson from the Missouri course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.
On a controlled access highway you get on and off only by ramps. Use the whole ramp and acceleration lane to match highway speed, and plan your exit early.
Know the rule
Use the entrance ramp and acceleration lane to speed up to the speed of highway traffic. Watch for an opening, switch on your turn signal and pull smoothly into traffic.
Drivers on the highway should give you room, but if they don't, don't force your way on. You must yield to them, even if that means stopping at the end of the acceleration lane.
Get into the proper lane well before the deceleration lane. Use the deceleration lane and exit ramp to slow down, obey the ramp's speed advisory sign, and be ready to stop or yield at the end.
A newer interchange design used in Missouri where you travel on the left side of the roadway for a short distance. Directional signs show you where to go.
Common interchange designs: cloverleaf, diamond, directional and diverging diamond
Put it into practice
You reach the end of the acceleration lane and highway traffic is bumper to bumper with no gap. Don't force your way in. Yield, stopping at the end of the lane if you must, and merge when a gap opens.
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.
What should you use to increase your speed to match highway traffic before merging?
The shoulder
The right lane of the highway
The end of the ramp, from a stop
The ramp and acceleration lane
Answer: The ramp and acceleration lane
Use the ramp and acceleration lane to increase your speed to match highway traffic before merging.
