Learning to drive in Maryland

Though I drive for 10 years in my country, now I'm relearning the traffic rules of Maryland. While I'm reading the driver's handbook, I found some rules very amusing:

1. Drivers should be especially alert for and yield the right-of-way to pedestrians who are deaf, or have physical disabilities... (how can I tell whether pedestrians are deaf?)

2. Avoid eye contact with other drivers (why?)

3. Always come to a full stop at red lights and stop signs (I understood though a full stop at stop signs in an empty parking lot making me feel like a fool. full=fool?)

4. If you should strike and injure a domestic animal with a motor vehicle, the law requires you to immediately notify the police department having jurisdiction in the area where the crash occurred. The police will contact the proper agency to obtain medical care for the animal. (Then why I still see so many road kills without being attended?)

5. Watch the car ahead of you when it passes a reference point, such as a sign or overpass. Then count "one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three, one thousand four." If you pass the same spot before you are finished counting to one thousand four, you are following too closely. (How about counting one thousand sheep, two thousand sheep, three thousand sheep, four thousand sheep? We are used to counting sheep by all means. :D)

6. We've all seen them - people driving down the road reading the road map or newspaper, shaving, putting on make-up or concentrating on a cell phone conversation. Those are the most obvious examples of driver distraction. (Oh, no! Why police don't fine them much?)

7. You would be better off not driving at all when you are emotionally upset. (No wonder there is less traffic in April tax season.)

8. Avoid abrupt changes in speed or direction. Drive as though you have an egg between your foot and the gas or brake pedal. (Hmmm.... let me imagine that, an egg, huh?)

9. If a collision seems inevitable, do anything to keep from hitting another vehicle; if you have a choice, run your vehicle into a ditch. (If I had a choice, I would rather be able to fly... :P)

10. How to avoid being hit from the rear? If a vehicle follows too closely, slow down and let it pass. (Are you kidding me, then when can I finish my grocery shopping?)