In what situation might speeding up be the right collision-avoidance response?
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A.
When another vehicle is about to pass you on the left.
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B.
When you are about to be hit from behind, even if the lane ahead is blocked.
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C.
When you are about to be hit from the side or behind and there is room ahead. Correct
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D.
When the vehicle ahead of you stops suddenly in your lane.
The answer is "When you are about to be hit from the side or behind and there is room ahead."
The manual lists three collision-avoidance options: stopping quickly, turning quickly, and speeding up. Speeding up fits a narrow case: another vehicle is about to hit you from the side or from behind, and there is room ahead of you to get out of danger. The rule is conditional on having a clear path forward. D reaches for the accelerator as the default forward-escape, when a stopped vehicle ahead is the opposite of the room ahead the option requires.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. When another vehicle is about to pass you on the left.
When another driver passes you, stay to the right and let them complete the pass. Being passed is not a collision threat that calls for accelerating. This answer treats a routine overtake as a side-impact threat, stretching the escape-forward rule to cover normal passing traffic instead of an actual imminent hit.
B. When you are about to be hit from behind, even if the lane ahead is blocked.
The rear threat alone is not enough. Speeding up works only when there is room ahead of you to get out of danger; with the path blocked, accelerating trades one collision for another, and turning quickly is the escape that fits. This answer half-remembers the rule as 'speed up if you are about to be rear-ended' and drops the second condition that the path ahead must be clear.
D. When the vehicle ahead of you stops suddenly in your lane.
A hazard in front of you calls for stopping quickly if you have the distance, or turning quickly away from it. Speeding up requires room ahead to escape into; a stopped vehicle ahead is the opposite of room ahead. This answer confuses 'turning quickly away' with gunning it around the obstacle, defaulting to the accelerator for any forward-escape maneuver rather than matching the option to the threat's direction.
This question tests your knowledge of Emergencies in Oregon. Source: Oregon Driver Manual, "Avoiding a Collision," p.74..
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