Positioning and turning

Positioning

• The most practical and natural way to position your vehicle while making a left turn on a one-way street is doing it from as left as possible on the carriageway. This is however not the same for a two-way road as there is oncoming traffic, here you should position your vehicle as close to the centre of your carriageway as possible.
• When it snows, it could be hard to see the road clearly. In this picture (image 1) there are several pair of lines indicated. You should try to keep your wheels on lines A. This is because it seems that the road surface of the lines B is more slippery than on lines A, and driving on lines C would mean that you driving on the middle of the road.

Image 1: Drive on the lines A

• Having insufficient distance between cars driving at a fast speed is risky as they may collide in case of sudden braking. If the distance is insufficient, the braking distance is not enough to prevent an accident. Driving with insufficient distance is quite common on country roads, however, there is a simple trick to know if you're driving at a safe distance, the three-second rule;

You start counting when the car in front of you passes a fixed point (for instance a tree or road sign). Stop counting once you yourself reach that point. If it takes you less than 3 seconds to cover that distance, it means that the distance between you and the vehicle in front of you is too short and needs to be increased.

• The distance between verge posts, the white posts with reflectors (image 2) on the side of the road, is 50 metres. On highways it´s recommended to have 2 post between you and the car in front of you, which means 100 metres. Or if both cars are at a post; 1 post in between them.

Image 2: Verge post 

• The best method to change lanes is by keeping your current speed is looking in the mirrors and blindspot, and then you check the blind spot again just before changing lanes. Notice that this is the 'best' method to change lanes, not how you must do it.
• In this image (image 3), car C indicates the best the correct way of positioning before turning left on this road. Because if you position yourself like car A or B then there is a much higher chance that a car can drive into you from the rear during the turn.

Image 3: Car C shows the correct way of positioning before turning left

• When you reach the top of a hill you should stay in the middle of your lane. Because driving left of your lane at the top of a hill is dangerous due to possible collision with opposite traffic. But driving on the right is also dangerous due to possible pedestrians or cyclists near the road.

Turning

• A U-turn (image 4) is when you drive into the opposite direction, kind of like in a round circle.

Image 4: U-turn

• This road sign (image 5) indicates a so called Spanish turn. Keep in mind that the 'Spanish turn' is not officially the name of this turn but it is used in many driving licence books and people use this name often to indicate this type of turn.

Image 5: Spanish turn

• U-turns are normally not prohibited on priority roads. However, if on a priority road it would be prohibited, then there is a ‘No U-Turn’ sign posted by the road.
• Using a roundabout to turn around is highly recommended, compared to reversing or making a U-turn, since a turn on a roundabout is a lot safer.
• When there is a 'No U-Turn’ sign (image 6) erected, you’re still allowed to take a left or right turn. Because there is no general prohibition against turning left or right where the 'No U-Turn' sign (C26) is erected.

Image 6: No U-turn (C26)

• This sign (image 7), ‘obligation to stop’ (B2), indicates that vehicles are obliged to come to a complete standstill before entering the intersecting road. Therefore, even if there clearly is no traffic on the entire intersecting road, you must still stop here.

Image 7: Obligation to stop (B2)

• Normally it’s prohibited to cross solid lines, but there are exceptions. For instance when you’re entering or exiting a private property or other similar area located on the side of the road (image 8), then you’re allowed to cross a solid line.

Image 8: You may cross the solid line when coming from a private property