A driver behind you on an Oregon road wants to pass. What does the Oregon Driver Manual tell you to do with your following distance?
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A.
Brake hard to send a clear signal that you saw them.
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B.
Maintain your current speed and following distance.
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C.
Speed up to discourage the pass.
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D.
Slow down to give the passer more room in front of you to merge back in. Correct
The answer is "Slow down to give the passer more room in front of you to merge back in."
When the driver behind you wants to pass, slow down to allow room in front of your vehicle for the passing vehicle to complete the pass. Increasing the gap ahead lets the passer return to the lane, or cut back in early if oncoming traffic appears. Your job as the driver being passed is to make the pass easier, not to defend your gap. C flips the rule on its head, treating acceleration as a way to discourage the pass instead of opening room for it.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Brake hard to send a clear signal that you saw them.
Hard braking is never the right response in this scenario; gentle slowing is. This answer substitutes hard braking for the gentle slowing the manual prescribes; elsewhere the manual warns never to brake hard in response to following traffic.
B. Maintain your current speed and following distance.
The manual directs you to slow down and increase the gap to make the pass safer. This answer treats the situation as requiring no change, ignoring the manual's explicit instruction to slow down and open room ahead of you for the passer.
C. Speed up to discourage the pass.
Speeding up to block a pass is unsafe and contrary to the rule. This answer reverses the rule by accelerating to block the pass instead of slowing to allow room for the passing vehicle to complete the pass.
This question tests your knowledge of Defensive Driving in Oregon. Source: Oregon Driver Manual, "Following Distance," p.27..
Related Oregon questions
- Another driver is following you too closely (tailgating) on an Oregon road. What's the recommended response? →
- What does Oregon's handbook define as a safe following distance under most conditions? →
- How can you measure your following distance in seconds while driving in Oregon? →
- When stopping behind another vehicle in traffic, what visual rule does the Oregon handbook give for how close to stop? →
- Which of these conditions does NOT increase the following distance you should keep, according to the Oregon handbook? →
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