A 3-minute lesson from the South Carolina course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.
Speed management means adjusting your speed for road and traffic conditions, keeping enough following distance, and obeying the speed limit. The posted limit is a maximum, not a target.
Know the rule
Reduce speed before entering a curve, to a speed that lets you apply slight, constant acceleration through it.
Slow before the curve, accelerate slightly through it
Know the rule
Reduce speed at the first sign of rain, snow, sleet or ice. On slippery roads tires grip less, stopping takes longer, and turning without skidding is harder.
Heavy rain has left water across a low road on your way home, and it looks only a few inches deep. Don't try it. Six inches reaches the bottom of most cars, and the water may hide a washed-out road. Turn around and take another route.
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 should reduce speed before entering a curve to:
The posted speed limit
About 10 mph under the posted limit
Whatever speed traffic behind you is going
One that lets you gently accelerate through it
Answer: One that lets you gently accelerate through it
Reduce speed before entering a curve to a speed that allows slight and constant acceleration through it.
