PHILOSOPHY AND OBJECTIVES The mission of Driver Education in the Union County Public Schools is to meet or exceed North Carolina Law with driving instruction. With this in mind, students will have a minimum of 30 hours of classroom instruction offered and 6 hours of driving experience and 6 hours of observation experience for each student driver. It is our intent to provide exposure to all of the following as part of the comprehensive education program. Instructional Objectives are to enable the students to: Prepare the car and its occupants for a safe and comfortable trip Start the car Accelerate smoothly and safely from a standing position Start a car on an upgrade and on a downgrade from a standing position Maintain proper position in required lanes Make a safe, comfortable turn Adjust speed to existing traffic conditions to account for variations in traffic flow and legal speed limits Downshift to maintain speed or reduce speed, before starting down a hill, in heavy, slow-moving traffic, or in emergency situations. Come to a normal safe stop on level roadways and on hills and to make required rapid stops Back up safely and smoothly Prevent and stop a skid Maintain a complete and accurate understanding of the driving environment and to identify any critical changes that might affect his driving Drive safely in an urban area and react appropriately to pedestrians and to other traffic Drive in a safe, efficient manner in open country Safely enter, drive on and exit from a freeway Maintain an adequate separation between the car and the vehicle ahead Make sound passing decisions and to complete passes safely without interference to other road users Enter traffic without interfering with other vehicles Leave the line of traffic with a minimum interference to the vehicles and to the side of the car Change lanes safely and without obstructing the flow of traffic Park the car safely and legally and exit the car, with minimal interference with other vehicular or pedestrian traffic Respond with safe and courteous action when encountering pedestrians, cyclists and animals Drive safely through or by an attended emergency area, or to provide necessary assistance when one is the first to reach a severe accident Drive safely alongside parked and parking vehicles Accommodate a passing vehicle by adjusting the car’s speed and/or position as necessary for the other vehicle to complete the pass quickly Drive ahead of other vehicles with a minimum risk of rear-end collision Adjust his course as necessary when meeting on-coming vehicles, and to take evasive action when necessary to avoid a head-on collision Safely overtake a vehicle and to avoid having to initiate emergency maneuvers Act safely when in the vicinity of special vehicles; i.e., school buses, police, fire and other emergency vehicles Approach an intersection and to react appropriately to other traffic and traffic controls Proceed through an intersection prepared to react to changing traffic conditions Safely make a right turn at an intersection Negotiate traffic circles safely Safely enter a main roadway from an entrance ramp with or without an acceleration lane Exit safely from the main roadway Negotiate hills safely and effectively Negotiate highway curves safely and comfortably Select the appropriate lane for driving
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