The manual recommends that on packed snow, you cut your speed by:
-
A.
More than half of your normal speed. Correct
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B.
About 10 mph below the posted speed limit.
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C.
Roughly one-quarter below the posted limit.
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D.
Down to a crawl, the same as on ice.
The answer is "More than half of your normal speed."
Packed snow calls for cutting speed by more than half, and pure ice calls for slowing to a crawl. Drivers pick choice D because the manual states the two rules a sentence apart, and the harsher-sounding ice rule crowds out the packed-snow number in memory.
The traps in the wrong answers
B. About 10 mph below the posted speed limit.
A fixed 10-mph reduction is not the rule the manual sets for packed snow. This answer applies a rain-driving rule of thumb to a packed-snow surface the manual treats more strictly.
C. Roughly one-quarter below the posted limit.
Understates the reduction the manual calls for. This answer underestimates how much traction packed snow actually costs.
D. Down to a crawl, the same as on ice.
Slowing to a crawl is the manual's rule for ice, not for packed snow. This answer blends the ice sentence with the packed-snow sentence printed beside it and applies the harsher figure to both.
This question tests your knowledge of Adverse Conditions in North Carolina. Source: North Carolina Driver Handbook, "Chapter 4 - Snow and Ice," p.73..
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