Highway Traffic Safety
Pre-Listening
What are some things that you can do to make sure that you are driving as safely as possible?
Listen and Read
Listen to this recording, answer the questions, and then read along with the audio recording.
Listening Quiz
Select the best answer for each question, then press Check Answers.
Use arrow keys to choose between options within each question.
1. The man gets on the highway at Exit ____.
2. The man commutes to work with ________.
3. The man usually drives __________.
I sometimes drive to work in the morning. I get on the highway near my house at Exit 219, heading southbound toward downtown. The three-lane highway is often congested that time of morning, but I use the carpool lane that’s reserved for cars with two or more passengers. I usually travel with a colleague to work. If I’m traveling to work by myself, then I usually stay in the right lane unless I’m passing another vehicle.
I always drive the speed limit because I don’t want to get pulled over for speeding. Furthermore, it’s much safer to drive the speed limit than to speed and cause an accident. I also make sure I use my turn signals as I change lanes, and I maintain a safe distance behind the car in front of me.
Once you reach the city, the traffic slows, and you often have to drive bumper-to-bumper for a few miles. I get off the highway downtown. If you haven’t driven this stretch of highway before, I suggest you buy a road map to help you navigate yourself around town.
Vocabulary and Expressions From the Audio
- get on (phrasal verb): to enter a road, highway, or freeway by driving onto it from a ramp or connecting road
- Be careful when you get on the highway because other cars are already moving fast.
- three-lane (adjective): having three separate lanes for traffic
- The three-lane highway made it easier for drivers to pass slower vehicles.
- highway (noun): a main road designed for fast travel between cities or towns, usually with multiple lanes
- We drove on the highway for two hours before stopping for gas.
- congested (adjective): blocked or overcrowded with traffic, causing vehicles to move very slowly or stop completely
- The highway was so congested that it took us an hour to travel just five miles.
- carpool (verb/noun): to share a ride with one or more people who are going to the same place; also used as a noun to describe this kind of arrangement
- (verb): My coworker and I decided to carpool to save money on gas.
- (noun): We started a carpool with three people from our neighborhood.
- lane (noun): a single section of a road or highway marked for one line of traffic
- She moved into the left lane to pass the slow-moving truck ahead of her.
- carpool lane (noun): a highway lane reserved for vehicles carrying two or more people, designed to encourage ride-sharing and reduce traffic
- We used the carpool lane because there were three of us in the car.
- speed limit (noun): the maximum speed allowed by law on a particular road
- The speed limit on this highway is 65 miles per hour, so do not drive faster than that.
- get pulled over (expression): to be stopped by a police officer while driving, usually because of a traffic violation
- He got pulled over for driving 20 miles over the speed limit.
- speeding (noun): the act of driving faster than the legal speed limit
- She received a ticket for speeding on the highway last week.
- turn signal (noun): a flashing light on a vehicle used to let other drivers know you plan to turn or change lanes; also called a “blinker”
- Always use your turn signal before changing lanes on the highway.
- bumper-to-bumper (adjective): describing very heavy traffic where vehicles are stopped or moving very slowly, with almost no space between them
- Traffic was bumper-to-bumper on the highway during the morning rush hour.
- get off (phrasal verb): to exit a road, highway, or freeway by taking an off-ramp or turning onto a connecting road
- We need to get off the highway at the next exit to reach the hotel.
- stretch (noun): a continuous section or length of road or highway
- There is a long stretch of highway between the two cities with no gas stations.
Discussion
What are the traffic conditions like in your city? Does it take longer to drive somewhere than to take public transportation? Are traffic laws carefully enforced by police officers?
Online Investigation
There are many online tools to allow you to create a map and driving directions from one point to another. Find one such service and plot directions from your house to a famous landmark in your city. If such maps are not available for your area, then create a map from a hotel to a famous site in the city of your choosing where such online maps can be used. Finally, explain the directions to a partner.