You are moving through an intersection on a green light. A pedestrian starts to cross in your path against the red pedestrian signal. What does the law require you to do first?
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A.
Flash your headlights and continue
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B.
Give a warning with your horn Correct
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C.
Wait silently for the pedestrian to clear without sounding your horn
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D.
Drive around the pedestrian without slowing
The answer is "Give a warning with your horn"
Sound the horn first as a warning, then stop if the pedestrian doesn't stop. Drivers taught that honking at a pedestrian is rude pick C, but North Carolina names the horn as the required warning, not an insult.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Flash your headlights and continue
The manual names the horn, not the headlights, as the warning device when a pedestrian crosses against the red signal. Substitutes the headlight flash drivers use to signal other cars for the horn the law names for pedestrian warnings.
C. Wait silently for the pedestrian to clear without sounding your horn
The manual makes the horn warning the first required step, not a silent yield; sound the horn, then stop if the pedestrian keeps coming. Treats honking at a pedestrian as rude and defaults to silent yielding, when the law names the horn as the required first move.
D. Drive around the pedestrian without slowing
A green light doesn't authorize driving around a pedestrian; the manual requires a horn warning first, then a stop if the pedestrian doesn't stop. Reads a green light as absolute right of way that erases the pedestrian's protection when the pedestrian is in the wrong.
This question tests your knowledge of Right of Way in North Carolina. Source: North Carolina Driver Handbook, "Chapter 4: Your Driving," p.47..
Related North Carolina questions
- You are already inside a roundabout when an emergency vehicle with lights and siren approaches. What must you do? →
- A railroad crossing has a crossbuck sign but no lights and no gates. Who yields at that crossing? →
- You approach a North Carolina roundabout with traffic already circulating. Who has the right of way? →
- You sound your horn to warn a pedestrian who is crossing against the signal, but the pedestrian does not stop. What must you do? →
- A pedestrian is crossing on a Walk signal at a signaled intersection. What right of way do they have? →
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