You want to make a U-turn on a residential street. When does the manual allow it?
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A.
Only at an intersection with a signal.
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B.
Any time you signal and check both directions.
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C.
When no vehicles are approaching within 200 feet and no posted sign or safety restriction prohibits it. Correct
The answer is "When no vehicles are approaching within 200 feet and no posted sign or safety restriction prohibits it."
A U-turn on a residential street is legal when no vehicle is approaching within 200 feet, and the manual's general no-U-turn conditions (posted signs, visibility blocked for 200 feet, one-way streets, fire stations, railroad crossings) still apply. Choice A is the trap drivers fall into when they blend the manual's two U-turn sections and treat the business-district intersection-or-divided-highway exception as if it also governed residential streets.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Only at an intersection with a signal.
A residential district does not require an intersection; the intersection-only condition belongs to the business-district exception. This answer applies the business district's intersection-or-divided-highway exception to a residential street, blending the manual's two U-turn sections into one rule.
B. Any time you signal and check both directions.
Signaling and looking are required for every turn, but they do not replace the specific 200-foot approaching-vehicle figure the manual sets for residential U-turns. This answer substitutes the everyday signal-and-mirror-check habit for the exact distance figure the manual prints as its own separate condition.
This question tests your knowledge of Turning in California. Source: California Driver Manual, "U-TURN," p.20..
Related California questions
- How far before your turn should you begin signaling? →
- You make a right turn from a two-way street. Absent signs or lane arrows directing otherwise, in which lane should you end the turn? →
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- You enter a center left turn lane to prepare for a left turn. What limit does the manual set on how far you can drive in it? →
- You are stopped in the intersection waiting for a gap to turn left. How should your front wheels be pointed? →
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