You are driving alongside a large truck and cannot see the truck's side mirrors from your seat. What does this tell you?
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A.
The truck's mirrors need adjustment
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B.
You have entered a legal passing zone
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C.
The truck driver cannot see you Correct
The answer is "The truck driver cannot see you"
Large trucks have wide blind spots along their sides, and if you cannot see the truck's mirrors, the driver cannot see you. The mirror-adjustment answer tempts drivers who read the invisible mirror as the truck's own equipment problem, missing that the manual uses the sightline as a rule for gauging their own visibility.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. The truck's mirrors need adjustment
The manual pairs mirror visibility with the driver's field of view, not mirror alignment. This answer reads a mirror the reader cannot see as a mirror the truck needs to adjust, missing that the manual uses the sightline as a check on the reader's own visibility.
B. You have entered a legal passing zone
The manual describes blind spots as danger zones to clear, never as safer passing zones. This answer reads a spot the truck driver cannot see as an opening to slip past, when the manual flags it as a zone to clear.
This question tests your knowledge of Sharing the Road in California. Source: California Driver Manual, "Blind Spots (the No Zone)," p.42..
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