Sirens, School Buses, Railroad Tracks and a Stuck Pedal: First-Time Checklists

Fifty hours of practice cover a lot of right turns and very few emergencies. These are the situations most new drivers meet for the first time alone. Read them once now, while nothing is happening.

An emergency vehicle behind you

1. When a fire truck, ambulance or police car approaches from behind with its siren on, pull over as far to the right as you can.
2. Stop, and do not move until it has passed.
3. If you are in an intersection, do not stop there. Continue through, then pull right as soon as you can. The DMV notes you can be cited for getting this wrong.

A school bus with flashing red lights

• Stop at a safe distance and stay stopped until the red lights stop flashing.
• Traffic in both directions must stop, unless the road is divided by a median.
• Even after the lights stop, children can cross without warning. The DMV advises treating a stopped bus like a school zone: 25 mph or less when children are present.

A railroad crossing

• Look and listen both ways, and expect a train on any track at any time.
• In heavy traffic, wait before the tracks until you can cross without stopping on them.
• Remember the DMV's blunt reason: by the time a train's crew sees you, it is too late for the train to stop.

A stuck accelerator

1. Shift into neutral.
2. Apply the brakes, eyes on the road.
3. Look for a way out of traffic; warn others with the horn and hazard lights.
4. Steer safely off the road.
5. Turn the ignition off only once you are stopped — turning it off earlier can lock the steering in some cars.

Fog

• Avoid driving in it if you can; postpone the trip.
• Use low beams only. High beams reflect back and make it worse; never drive with only parking or fog lights on.
• Increase following distance and be ready to stop within the space you can see.
• If it becomes too thick, pull completely off the road and turn on your hazards.

Hydroplaning and blowouts

Water: if water on the road is deeper than your tread, the tires can lose contact. Drive slowly, keep tires inflated with good tread, steer around standing water, and slow further if you hear sloshing. Blowout: hold the wheel firmly with both hands, steer straight, ease off the gas without hitting the brakes, let the car slow, guide it off the road, and brake only when nearly stopped.

Afterwards: if anything was damaged

Most of these end with nothing more than a racing heart. If they end with contact, the ordinary rules apply: exchange the information Vehicle Code section 16025 requires, report to the DMV on an SR-1 within 10 days if damage is over $1,000 or anyone is hurt, and call your insurer. Whether the damage falls under collision or comprehensive coverage depends on what happened and on your policy, so describe events plainly and let the adjuster classify it.

Practice the ones you can

You cannot rehearse a stuck pedal, but you can find the hazard switch without looking, practice shifting to neutral while parked, and drive a route with a railroad crossing alongside an experienced driver. Ten minutes in a parking lot makes the checklist physical instead of theoretical.

New on the road? Make sure the policy matches the driver before the first surprise.