Overview

Country roads are often smaller and not maintained as freeways. The speed is higher and their arent always barriers that protect animals from running into the road. Thus when driving on country roads more attention is required then driving on a motorway or in a builtup area You need to have larger safety margins and pay attention to objects and situations happening further ahead

country road 7 positioning Country road, cars driving too close to each other

Determine the distance to keep between cars on a country road

The following methods can help to determine the appropriate distance

  • 3 second rule: Choose a fix point on the road (like a road sign or a tree). The moment the car in front of you pass the fix point, start counting. When you pass the the fix point stop counting. If the time is less then 3 seconds you are too close to the car in front of you and you need to slow down
  • Reflective verge posts: There are reflective verge posts sometimes next to the road. Theses posts are 50-100meter distance apart. General rule of thumb is to have 3 verge posts between you and the car in front of you

    verge posts white square right side
    Reflective verge post

  • Km/h to meter: You can convert your km/h to meter by just saying 90km/h ~ 90meters. This is the distance you need to keep between you and the car in front of you

What to do if the car behind you is too close

This will happen often that the driver behind you is in a hurry and drive too close. This causes several problems. See below how to mitigate some of these problems

  • There is a car in front of you: If a car is in front of you and a car behind you is too close. Consider increasing the distance between you and the car in front of you. This will reduce the risk that you will crash into the car in front of you also
  • Breaking hard: If you break hard the car behind you will hit you at a high speed. You will get whiplash from the accident which can injure your neck. If possible break softer so the car behind you have enough time to also break
  • Give room for car behind you to overtake you: Even though the car behind you is too close, always try to be accommodating by allowing them to bypass you safely. This reduce the risk for you alot.
  • In some cases you can turn on your emergency lights for a second: If there is no room to allow the driver to overtake you, and you are too close to the car in front of you already. Sometimes to remind the driver behind you with your emergency hazard lights will let them know they need to give appropriate distance

Passing place for oncoming cars

  • When you arrive at the passing place road sign, the general rule is the first car to arrive shall stop, this does not matter on which side the passing place is on.
  • Always try to keep to the right when passing, and keep the margin as large as possible
e18 1 Passing place

Private road road sign

Private roads on country roads are very common. You need to consider the following when driving on a private road

  • Roads arent always maintained and can have pothols
  • Road signs wont be always available
  • There could be sharp turns and narrow roads
  • There could be un expected road bumps
private road directional sign Private road sign

Horses on country roads

Horses are commonly found on and next to country roads. When you approach a horse show great consideration as the animal can be scared by the car and the horse can injure themselves or the rider

  • Reduce your speed
  • Allow for greater distance between you and the horse
  • Dont make lots of sound, like rev your engine, hoot your horn
  • Dont dazzel the horse with your car lights
  • When driving away drive softly
  • Try to keep eye contact with the horse rider to understand where he will take the horse
a18 1 Horse riders (A18)