Your hood suddenly pops open while you're driving and blocks your view through the windshield. What does the manual tell you to do?
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A.
Brake hard and stop where you are to avoid an unseen hazard.
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B.
Speed up briefly so wind slams the hood back down.
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C.
Keep both hands on the wheel and hold your speed steady.
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D.
Open the side window, turn on emergency lights, and pull off the road. Correct
The answer is "Open the side window, turn on emergency lights, and pull off the road."
The manual says to open the side window so you can see, turn on your emergency lights, and carefully pull off the road. Choice A tempts readers who default to hard braking whenever they cannot see, missing that a sudden stop in traffic invites the rear-end crash the manual is trying to prevent.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Brake hard and stop where you are to avoid an unseen hazard.
Stopping suddenly in your lane invites a rear-end collision. This answer falls back on the general "stop if you can't see" instinct without weighing traffic behind.
B. Speed up briefly so wind slams the hood back down.
The manual gives no procedure that involves accelerating to reseat the hood. This answer reaches for a car-culture trick the manual does not sanction.
C. Keep both hands on the wheel and hold your speed steady.
You cannot drive safely with your view blocked; the manual says to pull off the road. This answer treats holding the lane as safer than any maneuver, when the manual asks you to exit the road.
This question tests your knowledge of Crash Procedures in New York. Source: New York State Driver's Manual, "Driving Emergencies: Blocked Vision," p.66..
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