A 3-minute lesson from the Virginia course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.
The single biggest contributor to crashes is failing to identify a risk. Searching means looking at the entire scene, far ahead, to the sides and behind, so nothing enters your path by surprise. Blind spots are the gaps your mirrors can't show.
Know the rule
Avoid staring at one thing or at the middle of the road. Keep your eyes moving and scan side to side for signs, signals, cars and people who could be in the road when you get there.
In rural areas, watch for hidden intersections and driveways, curves, hills, changing road conditions, trucks, oversized or slow farm vehicles, and bicycles.
Before entering an intersection, look left, then right, then left again. Look left first because cars from the left are closer to you. Look both ways at crosswalks, shopping centers, construction areas and playgrounds too.
You're about to pull out of a side street. Look left (the closest traffic), then right, then left once more, since a car from the left could have appeared while you looked right.
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 far ahead should expert drivers try to focus their eyes while searching the road?
2 to 3 seconds ahead
20 to 30 seconds
5 to 10 seconds ahead
1 minute ahead
Answer: 20 to 30 seconds
Expert drivers try to focus their eyes 20 to 30 seconds ahead, roughly one city block.