A vehicle behind you is about to strike your rear and the road ahead of you is clear. What does the manual say to do?
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A.
Shift into neutral so the engine does not stall on impact
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B.
Brake hard so the impact happens at a lower speed
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C.
Turn the wheel sharply left to get off the roadway
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D.
Press the accelerator and move away as quickly as possible Correct
The answer is "Press the accelerator and move away as quickly as possible"
With clear road ahead, the manual says to press the accelerator and move away as quickly as possible, then brace between the steering wheel and the seat and press the back of your head firmly against the head rest. Being ready to brake applies only when there is no room to move. Choice A is the trap for drivers who carry the shift-to-neutral step from the stuck gas pedal procedure into a scenario that calls for engine power, not cutting it.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Shift into neutral so the engine does not stall on impact
Neutral removes the engine power the manual tells you to use to move away from the hit. Imports the shift-to-neutral step from the stuck gas pedal procedure, where cutting power is the goal, into a scenario that calls for the opposite.
B. Brake hard so the impact happens at a lower speed
With clear road ahead, braking slows your escape and raises the closing speed of the hit; the manual lists being ready to brake only as a backup for when there is no room to move. Treats the manual's backup step as the primary action, carrying a brake-before-impact habit from head-on collision training into a rear-hit scenario where the geometry is reversed.
C. Turn the wheel sharply left to get off the roadway
For a hit from behind with clear road ahead, the manual says to accelerate away; leaving the road is its advice for oncoming threats, and even then it says to keep to the right, not swerve left. Pulls from evasive-maneuver drills that teach swerving away from a threat without accounting for what sits on the other side of the center line.
This question tests your knowledge of Crash Procedures in North Carolina. Source: North Carolina Driver Handbook, "Chapter 4 - Your Driving, Crashes," p.77..
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