Driver's License Test Prep
California Practice Passing

You are driving slowly on a two-lane road where passing is unsafe. When must you use a turnout to let others pass?

  1. A.
    Any time three or more drivers are close behind you
  2. B.
    When five or more vehicles are following you Correct
  3. C.
    When a designated turnout is posted at that location
The Why

The answer is "When five or more vehicles are following you"

The manual requires a turnout when you are driving slowly on a two-lane road, passing is unsafe, and five or more vehicles are following you. Drivers who pull over the moment three cars stack up behind them pick A, going on the gut sense that a line is forming rather than the specific five-vehicle count the rule sets.

Why the others miss

The traps in the wrong answers

A. Any time three or more drivers are close behind you

Three vehicles is below the count that triggers the manual's turnout duty. This answer lowers the trigger to three vehicles because three cars in the mirror already feels like a line, instead of counting to the five the rule names.

C. When a designated turnout is posted at that location

The rule is triggered by the number of drivers stacked up behind you, not by a posted turnout marker. This answer assumes the duty kicks in only where a marked turnout is posted, the way slow-vehicle pull-out rules read in some other states, rather than on the five-vehicle count.

The Rule

This question tests your knowledge of Passing in California. Source: California Driver Manual, "Turnout Areas or Lanes," p.16..

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