You have decided that passing the car ahead is safe. According to the manual, what is your next step?
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A.
Signal to alert the drivers ahead and behind you. Correct
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B.
Flash your high beams twice at the oncoming lane.
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C.
Tap the brakes to warn the driver behind of your intent.
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D.
Pull halfway into the opposing lane to check the view.
The answer is "Signal to alert the drivers ahead and behind you."
Once a pass is judged safe, the manual's next step is to signal both the drivers ahead and the drivers behind so they can plan around you. Option C tempts drivers who associate brake-tapping with warning the car behind in everyday traffic and carry that habit into passing, where the manual asks for a turn signal rather than a brake tap.
The traps in the wrong answers
B. Flash your high beams twice at the oncoming lane.
Headlight flashes are not the signal the manual names for a pass; it specifies a turn signal to drivers ahead and behind. This answer reaches for the dim-and-dip courtesy drivers use on open roads at night, which does not belong to this procedure.
C. Tap the brakes to warn the driver behind of your intent.
A brake tap warns the driver behind of a slowdown; it does not substitute for the turn signal the manual requires. This answer carries over a brake-tap habit drivers lean on in heavy traffic to shoo off tailgaters.
D. Pull halfway into the opposing lane to check the view.
Pulling into the opposing lane is the pass itself, not a check performed before signaling. This answer confuses looking ahead for a safe pass with physically easing across the center line, two steps the manual keeps separate.
This question tests your knowledge of Passing in North Carolina. Source: North Carolina Driver Handbook, "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? →
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