Smoke starts coming from under your hood while you are driving. What should you do?
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A.
Drive to the nearest gas station and ask for help.
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B.
Keep the engine running so your hazard lights stay on.
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C.
Pull off, turn off the ignition, get clear, and call the fire department. Correct
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D.
Open the hood and smother the flames with a jacket.
The answer is "Pull off, turn off the ignition, get clear, and call the fire department."
The manual tells you to pull off the road, turn off the ignition, get away from the car, and then call the fire department, because trying to fight a vehicle fire yourself is dangerous. Choice D is the trap for drivers who reach for the kitchen-fire habit of smothering a small flame, forgetting that a car fire sits on top of fuel lines and a live battery.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Drive to the nearest gas station and ask for help.
The manual tells you to park and get away from the car, not keep driving it. Treats a smoking hood as an ordinary breakdown that can wait for the next exit, when the fuel and battery are the reason to get clear now.
B. Keep the engine running so your hazard lights stay on.
The manual says to turn off the ignition. Assumes hazard lights need the engine, when the battery keeps them flashing with the ignition off.
D. Open the hood and smother the flames with a jacket.
The manual states plainly that trying to fight the fire yourself is dangerous. Carries the kitchen-fire habit of smothering a small flame onto a car that sits on top of fuel lines and a live battery.
This question tests your knowledge of Crash Procedures in New York. Source: New York State Driver's Manual, "Driving Emergencies: Fire," p.66..
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