What must you do when you see a railroad crossing sign?
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A.
Pull onto the shoulder and wait for a train to pass.
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B.
Stop before crossing every time, whether or not a train is coming.
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C.
Speed up to clear the tracks before a train arrives.
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D.
Approach with caution and prepare to stop. Correct
The answer is "Approach with caution and prepare to stop."
A railroad crossing sign is a warning that requires you to approach with caution and be ready to stop for a train. A warning sign alone does not require a personal vehicle to stop every time, but you must stop when a posted stop sign, flagger, active warning signal, gate, or approaching train requires it. Option B is the trap for drivers who carry over the school-bus-at-every-crossing rule and apply it to their own car.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Pull onto the shoulder and wait for a train to pass.
The sign calls for a cautious approach, not for stopping on the shoulder. Confuses the railroad approach rule with the shoulder pull-off behavior drivers use when an emergency vehicle is passing.
B. Stop before crossing every time, whether or not a train is coming.
Personal vehicles are not required to stop at every crossing; only certain classes are, such as school buses and placarded vehicles. Carries over the school-bus-and-placarded-vehicle stopping rule and applies it to every personal vehicle at every crossing.
C. Speed up to clear the tracks before a train arrives.
The manual tells you to slow down, look, listen, and stay alert. Substitutes a race-the-train reflex learned from highway merging for the slow-down-and-stay-alert approach the manual sets out.
This question tests your knowledge of Warning Signs in North Carolina. Source: North Carolina Driver Handbook, "Chapter 4 — Your Driving: Railroad Crossing Safety," p.60..
Related North Carolina questions
- In many school zones, what does the manual say about the posted speed limit? →
- A smaller sign mounted directly below a crossbuck at a railroad crossing tells you what? →
- You are already on the tracks when the railroad warning lights begin to flash. What should you do? →
- The manual says driving on or across railroad tracks is illegal under what condition? →
- What does the manual say about stopping on train tracks at a railroad crossing? →
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