Primary Motley County Driving Topic: Long Rural Highways and Sustained Attention
Motley County’s strongest local driver education topic is maintaining attention on long, lightly developed highways.
A road may look empty for several miles.
That does not mean the student can relax.
Long straight roads create several risks.
Students may:
Allow speed to increase gradually
Stop checking mirrors
Drift within the lane
Look too close to the front of the vehicle
Become distracted because the scenery changes slowly
A better approach is disciplined scanning.
Look Far Ahead
At highway speed, students need more time to react.
Watch for:
Intersections
Slow equipment
Trucks
Curves
Construction
Bridge approaches
Animals
Vehicles entering from ranch roads
Check Speed Regularly
Long straight roads make speed harder to judge by feel alone.
Check the speedometer periodically without staring at it.
Continue Mirror Checks
Sparse traffic does not mean there is no traffic behind the vehicle.
A faster truck or passenger vehicle can close distance quickly.

