You're driving in Oregon during winter. The temperature has dropped just below freezing and the rest of the road looks clear. What's likely true about bridges and shaded areas?
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A.
Bridges are most slippery well below freezing, not near the freezing point.
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B.
Shaded areas freeze before bridges do, so bridges stay safer longer.
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C.
Bridges become icy only after snow has visibly accumulated on the road surface.
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D.
Bridges and shaded areas freeze first and may be icy. Correct
The answer is "Bridges and shaded areas freeze first and may be icy."
The manual lists a bridge or shaded area as a danger spot to watch for: it freezes first and may be icy when the rest of the road is free of ice. Bridges lose heat from above and below, so they ice over before ground-supported pavement does. The manual also warns the road is likely to be the most slippery when the temperature is near the freezing point rather than below freezing, exactly the scenario here. A driver reaching for A flips that near-freezing warning on its head right as the scenario steps into the danger zone it describes.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Bridges are most slippery well below freezing, not near the freezing point.
The manual warns that the road is likely to be the most slippery when the temperature is near the freezing point rather than below freezing. This choice inverts that rule, and the scenario sits right at the danger zone it describes. This answer inverts the manual's warning that the road is likely to be the most slippery when the temperature is near the freezing point rather than below freezing.
B. Shaded areas freeze before bridges do, so bridges stay safer longer.
The manual pairs the two: a bridge or shaded area freezes first. It does not rank one ahead of the other, and neither stays safer than the surrounding road. This answer splits the manual's paired warning that a bridge or shaded area freezes first into a ranking, half-remembering shaded areas as the danger spot and bridges as the safer surface.
C. Bridges become icy only after snow has visibly accumulated on the road surface.
A bridge may be icy when the rest of the road is free of ice; no visible snow is required. The danger is ice that forms on the bridge before you see any accumulation anywhere. This answer misreads the danger-spot warning as requiring visible snow before a bridge is hazardous; the manual says a bridge freezes first and may be icy when the rest of the road is free of ice.
This question tests your knowledge of Adverse Conditions in Oregon. Source: Oregon Driver Manual, "Hazardous Conditions: Snow and Ice," p.78..
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