How should you merge when a lane is closing in a work zone?
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A.
As soon as it is safe, without crossing the cones or drums. Correct
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B.
Only after the last cone has been passed by traffic ahead.
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C.
Only when a flagger signals you to cross the barrier line.
The answer is "As soon as it is safe, without crossing the cones or drums."
The manual says to merge as soon as it is safe, without crossing the cones or drums. The 'wait for the last cone' answer is the habit of a driver who reads 'do not cross the barriers' as a signal to hold the closing lane until it runs out, which forces a late merge under pressure at the end of the taper.
The traps in the wrong answers
B. Only after the last cone has been passed by traffic ahead.
The manual says to merge as soon as it is safe, not to wait for the closing lane to run out. This answer reads the do-not-cross-barriers rule as a cue to hold the closing lane until it ends, the habit of drivers who treat cones as a lane commitment rather than a boundary during the merge.
C. Only when a flagger signals you to cross the barrier line.
The manual says to merge as soon as it is safe without crossing the cones or drums. If a flagger gives instructions, you must obey them, but a flagger's cue is not a precondition for merging. This answer assumes any lane change near work-zone barriers needs a flagger's wave, borrowed from scenarios where a flagger actively controls the flow of traffic.
This question tests your knowledge of Construction Signs in California. Source: California Driver Manual, "Road Workers and Work Zones," p.49..
Related California questions
- According to the manual, what guides drivers through a work zone? →
- In a highway construction or maintenance zone, when does the fine for a traffic violation double? →
- The manual says to prepare to slow down or stop for what inside a work zone? →
- Which action does the manual list for going through a work zone carefully? →
- The manual tells you to obey special signs or instructions from which people in a work zone? →
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