When entering an interstate from an on-ramp, how does the manual tell you to use the acceleration lane?
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A.
Enter the main lanes right away, even if you are below the flow of traffic.
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B.
Use the acceleration lane to match the speed of traffic, then merge into a safe gap. Correct
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C.
Stop at the end of the ramp and yield to all interstate traffic before merging.
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D.
Use the shoulder past the ramp to find a longer gap, then merge.
The answer is "Use the acceleration lane to match the speed of traffic, then merge into a safe gap."
The manual says to use the acceleration lane until your speed matches that of the other traffic, then merge safely, and to follow the flow of traffic only if you can do so without speeding. The lane exists so you can reach highway speed before merging into a safe gap, not to feed in slow or to stop at the end of the ramp. Trap: option C. A driver who learned on surface streets, where many entries are controlled by stop or yield signs, carries that habit onto a controlled on-ramp instead of using the acceleration lane to adjust speed and merge when a gap opens.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Enter the main lanes right away, even if you are below the flow of traffic.
Entering the main lanes below the flow of traffic creates the exact rear-end crash the acceleration lane is built to prevent. Use the acceleration lane to reach highway speed first, then merge safely. Treats the end of the ramp as the signal to merge rather than a matched speed.
C. Stop at the end of the ramp and yield to all interstate traffic before merging.
Yield to traffic already on the interstate, but a routine stop at the end of the ramp defeats the acceleration lane and sets up a rear-end crash from behind. Use the ramp to adjust speed and merge into a safe gap when one opens. Carries the stop-or-yield habit from surface-street entries onto a controlled on-ramp.
D. Use the shoulder past the ramp to find a longer gap, then merge.
The shoulder is not a travel surface, and the manual names the acceleration lane, not the shoulder, as the merging space. Reach traffic speed in the acceleration lane and merge from there. Treats the shoulder as spare pavement for extending a merge the acceleration lane is built to handle.
This question tests your knowledge of Lane Changes & Merging in North Carolina. Source: North Carolina Driver Handbook, "Interstate Highways," p.64..
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