Driver's License Test Prep
California Practice Parking

What is the minimum parking distance the manual requires from a fire hydrant?

  1. A.
    Three feet, matching the sidewalk-ramp setback printed a few bullets up on the same list.
  2. B.
    Fifteen feet, the same minimum set for a fire station driveway. Correct
  3. C.
    Twenty feet, borrowing the nearby general crosswalk distance.
The Why

The answer is "Fifteen feet, the same minimum set for a fire station driveway."

The manual pairs fire hydrants and fire station driveways at a fifteen-foot minimum on the same illegal-parking bullet. Drivers who pick twenty are reaching for the next bullet on the list, the general crosswalk setback, and forgetting that even that number drops to fifteen where a curb extension is present.

Why the others miss

The traps in the wrong answers

A. Three feet, matching the sidewalk-ramp setback printed a few bullets up on the same list.

The hydrant minimum is fifteen feet, not three. Three feet is a real figure on this illegal-parking list, but it belongs to the sidewalk-ramp bullet earlier on the same list. This answer carries the three-foot sidewalk-ramp setback from an earlier bullet on the same list over to hydrants, expecting neighboring parking rules to share a number.

C. Twenty feet, borrowing the nearby general crosswalk distance.

The manual sets hydrants and fire station driveways at fifteen feet, not twenty. Twenty feet is the general crosswalk setback on the next bullet, and even that drops to fifteen where a curb extension is present. This answer carries the twenty-foot general-crosswalk setback from the next bullet on the same illegal-parking list over to hydrants, expecting neighboring parking rules to share a number.

The Rule

This question tests your knowledge of Parking in California. Source: California Driver Manual, "Illegal Parking," p.28..

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