You are in the proper lane on the freeway. How far in advance should you signal your exit?
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A.
About 400 feet before your exit Correct
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B.
Just as you begin to steer onto the ramp
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C.
Whenever the exit sign first becomes visible
The answer is "About 400 feet before your exit"
Signal five seconds, roughly 400 feet, before you exit; that is the warning freeway traffic behind you needs to move over or ease off. The steer-then-signal habit in B treats the blinker as a live report on the maneuver instead of the advance warning the rule requires.
The traps in the wrong answers
B. Just as you begin to steer onto the ramp
Signaling as you steer onto the ramp gives freeway traffic behind you no warning; the manual sets the trigger 400 feet earlier. This answer follows the habit of signaling only when the wheel actually turns, so the blinker becomes a live report on the maneuver instead of the advance warning that lets following traffic adjust their lane and speed.
C. Whenever the exit sign first becomes visible
The manual ties the signal to a fixed distance, not to when a sign first becomes visible. This answer carries over a surface-street habit of signaling as soon as the next sign comes into view; on rural freeways an exit sign can appear a mile or more out, leaving the blinker on far longer than the rule sets.
This question tests your knowledge of Lane Changes & Merging in California. Source: California Driver Manual, "Exiting," p.23..
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