Ottawa Township High School
Drivers Education
Chapter 7 – Negotiation Intersections
7.1 – Searching Intersections
The correct way to check an intersection:
 Look Straight
 Look Left
 Look Right then repeat
 Straight
 Left
 Right
Look at pictures-
pg. 130- color light, ped, car in
intersection
pg. 132- g. light, car turning, school
zone
**Remember you are not allowed to make lane changes within an intersection**
-Lane changes need to be made before or after
7.2 – Controlled Intersections- have a light, sign
Stop – come to a full stop (do not roll through)
Yield – slow and yield the right of way to vehicles on the through street
Joining Traffic turning Right or Left – make sure you stop, check front and rear zones for pedestrians
before proceeding (p.135- look at 3 pics)
There are 3 colors of lights- yellow, red, green
There are 2 types of green lights..
Stale Green Light
 A light that has been green a long time
 Predict that it will turn yellow soon
o
Downtown the lights have pedestrian countdowns. When those get close to zero, you can expect the
lights is going to turn red
Fresh Green Light
 A light that has just turned green
 Be sure that no driver on the cross street is running the red light- if you’re the 1st car at a light
count thousand 1, thousand 2 before pulling into the intersection
Yellow Light
 Try to make every effort to stop, unless you have reach the point of no return
 Check rear zones and stop if it is safe to do so
Red Light
 You must stop
 Check rear zones as you begin to slow
If you can’t w.out being in the intersection. Wait for
all oncoming traffic to pass or stop & then go
Unprotected Left Turns – left turn at a signal-controlled intersection that does not have a special turn
light- before turning left you must yield to oncoming traffic (pic on bottom of pg. 136)
Protected Left Turn – Special turn light at a controlled intersection (pic on top of pg. 136- green arrow
means you can turn with caution in the direction of the arrow)
Right on Red
 Make a full stop
 Yield to traffic & pedestrians
Left on Red
 Make a full stop
 Yield to traffic and pedestrians
 Must be traveling on a one-way street
 Must be turning onto a one-way street
7.3 – Uncontrolled Intersections- look at pic on bottom of pg. 139- similar to 1st day btw on the east
side
Uncontrolled Intersection – no signs or signals to regulate traffic – you must predict that the other
traffic will not stop
3 things you should do at an uncontrolled intersection
 Reduce speed- slow down
 Search aggressively- really need to be looking 4 other cars
 Always be prepared to stop
Approaching Uncontrolled Intersection- pic on board
 If a vehicle is coming from the left or right, the driver on the left must yield to the driver on the
right
 Never assume that the other driver will yield
 Treat as you would a yield sign – always being prepared to stop
 Always let pedestrians go first – no matter where the pedestrian is crossing. As a driver, you
must yield to pedestrians even if they are breaking a traffic law (pedestrians always have the
right of way
Uncontrolled Railroad Crossings – see pg.141- sign only, see pg. 138 for controlled- lights & gate
 Slow down
 Radio is turned low or off (may have to open window)
 Wait for the train to clear then carefully check the crossing. Be sure another train is not
approaching on another set of tracks
 Never shift while crossing tracks
 Drive onto tracks only after you have enough space and speed to clear the tracks
 Never stop on railroad tracks while waiting for traffic ahead to move
 When you follow buses or trucks hauling flammable contents, be prepared to stop
**Treat all R.R. crossings like dangerous intersections!
**Don’t ever stop on the tracks! It takes trains a very LONG time to stop!
**Don’t go around gates if they are down, it’s illegal & very dangerous!
7.4 – Determining Right of Way and Judging Gaps
Judging the size of a gap (distance between vehicles) while waiting to make a turn
2 things affect if you have enough room to pull out
 The speed of traffic
 Following distance is adapted to judge gap sizes- use same process as judging following
distance
**Go over right of way pics on pg. 142-143
The top 4 lights on a bus are:
 Red- stopping
 Yellow- slowing
**Lights are flashing and/or the STOP arm out, means you must stop!
**Bus driver puts them on to let you know students are getting on/off the bus