An oncoming vehicle is drifting into your lane on an Oregon two-lane road. What does the handbook recommend?
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A.
Pull right, slow down, and warn with horn or lights. Correct
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B.
Pull into the opposing lane to give the other driver room.
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C.
Brake hard and stop in your lane.
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D.
Speed up and pass them on the right shoulder.
The answer is "Pull right, slow down, and warn with horn or lights."
Pull to the right as far as possible, slow down, and warn the other driver with your horn or lights. Never pull into the opposing lane; the oncoming driver may turn back sharply into that lane. In most cases, steering to the shoulder or ditch is safer than risking a head-on collision.
The traps in the wrong answers
B. Pull into the opposing lane to give the other driver room.
Never pull into the opposing lane; the oncoming driver may swerve back sharply into it. Misreading: Treats the opposing lane as a safe escape, which the manual explicitly forbids because the drifting driver may turn back sharply into that lane.
C. Brake hard and stop in your lane.
Stopping in your lane keeps you in the path of the oncoming vehicle; pulling right is safer. Misreading: Ignores the instruction to pull right toward the shoulder or ditch and instead leaves the vehicle in the oncoming driver's path.
D. Speed up and pass them on the right shoulder.
The manual says to slow down, not speed up, when an oncoming vehicle drifts toward you. Misreading: Misreads 'pull to the right' as license to accelerate past the drifting vehicle, when the manual pairs it with slowing down.
This question tests your knowledge of Emergencies in Oregon. Source: Oregon Driver Manual, "Oncoming Traffic," p.75..
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