Driver's License Test Prep
California Practice Sharing the Road

A vehicle ahead shows an orange and red triangle on its back. What does the marker tell you?

  1. A.
    It marks a slow-moving vehicle, often one traveling 25 mph or less Correct
  2. B.
    It is carrying an explosive or hazardous load
  3. C.
    It is a school bus preparing to stop for children
The Why

The answer is "It marks a slow-moving vehicle, often one traveling 25 mph or less"

The orange and red triangle marks a slow-moving vehicle. The manual gives road maintenance vehicles, which usually travel at 25 mph or less, as one example. The hazardous-load choice catches drivers who read any red-and-orange warning on a truck as a hazmat cue, a habit borrowed from the diamond placards fuel and tanker trucks carry.

Why the others miss

The traps in the wrong answers

B. It is carrying an explosive or hazardous load

Hazardous loads travel under a diamond-shaped placard, not the orange and red triangle. This answer treats any red-and-orange warning on the back of a truck as a hazmat cue, a habit borrowed from the diamond placards fuel and tanker trucks carry.

C. It is a school bus preparing to stop for children

School buses signal stops with flashing red lights, not with an orange and red triangle. This answer reaches for the school-bus stop rule on any red-and-orange marker because the school-bus warning is the vehicle-specific rule drivers rehearse first.

The Rule

This question tests your knowledge of Sharing the Road in California. Source: California Driver Manual, "Slow-moving Vehicles," p.45..

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