You come up behind a slower car on a two-lane highway and want to pass. The manual sets one condition for a safe pass. What must you be able to see?
-
A.
You can return to your original lane before meeting oncoming traffic. Correct
-
B.
The vehicle ahead has signaled that you may pass.
-
C.
The road is clear for at least 500 feet.
-
D.
The vehicle you are passing has moved to the right edge.
The answer is "You can return to your original lane before meeting oncoming traffic."
A safe pass turns on being able to return to your lane before oncoming traffic reaches you. The manual states this as a visibility condition and does not express it as a fixed distance. Learners who pick option C are pulling the 500-foot figure out of the hill-and-curve rule in the same section and treating it as a general passing distance.
The traps in the wrong answers
B. The vehicle ahead has signaled that you may pass.
Reverses the horn-signal direction; the manual puts the signal in the passing driver's hand, not the lead driver's. Reads a lead driver's gesture as permission, a habit carried over from informal waves drivers use at four-way stops.
C. The road is clear for at least 500 feet.
Treats the 500-foot number as a general passing visibility rule; the manual applies it only to hills and curves. Reaches for the nearest round figure in the same section rather than the condition the rule actually sets.
D. The vehicle you are passing has moved to the right edge.
The driver being passed must move to the right edge when the passing driver blows the horn. That cooperation does not replace your responsibility to see far enough ahead to return safely before meeting oncoming traffic. Reads the duty owed by the driver being passed as a precondition the passing driver must verify, since both roles sit in the same section and run in close sequence.
This question tests your knowledge of Passing in North Carolina. Source: North Carolina Driver Handbook, "Chapter 4, Passing," p.55..
Related North Carolina questions
- How far to the left of the vehicle you are passing does North Carolina law require you to pass? →
- A driver behind you sounds a horn to signal a pass. What does the manual require you to do? →
- You want to pass another vehicle on a hill or curve. What does the manual say you must have first? →
- In which of the following situations does North Carolina law allow you to pass another vehicle on the right? →
- On a three-lane highway with two-way traffic, and setting aside the left-turn exception, where does the manual say you may pass? →
You just took one North Carolina question apart. The book does it for the whole test.
The North Carolina book unlocks a free companion: an adaptive study plan, progress synced across your devices, a denser laminate cheat sheet, and a test-day walkthrough. Verify your copy once, usually in seconds; there's nothing extra to buy.
Paperback, free companion included.