A 3-minute lesson from the Tennessee course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.
School buses are one of the safest ways to travel — nearly 2,000 times safer than the family car. The danger is outside the bus. On rural roads, slow tractors, horse-drawn buggies and riders can appear over any hill.
Know the rule
More children are hurt outside a school bus than inside one. Most children killed are pedestrians aged five to seven, hit by the bus or by drivers illegally passing it. Loading and unloading account for nearly three of every four such deaths.
The area on all sides of the bus where children are most likely to be hit. Children stay 10 feet away, never go behind it, and take five giant steps away.
Children who must cross are taught to cross at least five giant steps in front of the bus, where the driver can see them. Drivers must stop far enough back to leave that space.
The orange slow-moving vehicle emblem must be on the rear of animal-drawn vehicles and most farm and construction equipment. When lights are required, a red rear lamp is visible for 500 feet; some use rotating red or amber lights.
Horseback riders are subject to and protected by traffic rules and ride single file near the right edge. Approach at a reasonable speed and distance, and never honk or rev your engine near a horse.
Slower traffic must use the right lane; the left is for passing and turning. Wide slow vehicles may need to drift into the next lane to avoid obstacles.
Cresting a hill at 55 mph on a rural highway, you find a tractor going about 15. Brake early, stay well back, and watch whether it swings left — it may be about to turn right into a field. Pass only in a legal zone once the driver has seen 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.
The slow-moving vehicle (SMV) emblem is used to identify vehicles such as:
Tow trucks at a crash scene
Farm tractors and construction equipment
Vehicles hauling hazardous materials
School buses carrying children
Answer: Farm tractors and construction equipment
The SMV emblem, a fluorescent orange triangle, identifies farm tractors, machinery, and other slow-moving vehicles.