Driver's License Test Prep
Oregon Practice Lane Changes & Merging

You realize you have started to enter an Oregon freeway the wrong way. You should:

  1. A.
    Stop at the side of the ramp, turn on your hazard lights, then turn around or back off. Correct
  2. B.
    Continue forward onto the freeway and exit at the next numbered exit.
  3. C.
    Speed up to clear the ramp and merge before oncoming vehicles arrive.
  4. D.
    Pull to the right shoulder, turn on your hazard lights, and stay near your vehicle until help arrives.
The Why

The answer is "Stop at the side of the ramp, turn on your hazard lights, then turn around or back off."

If you start to enter a freeway the wrong way, a DO NOT ENTER or WRONG WAY sign will warn you of your mistake. Immediately pull off to the side of the ramp and stop. Turn on your hazard lights to warn other vehicles. Then cautiously turn around or back off the ramp. The sequence to memorize is pull off, stop, hazards, turn around or back off.

Why the others miss

The traps in the wrong answers

B. Continue forward onto the freeway and exit at the next numbered exit.

Driving onto the freeway against oncoming traffic is extremely dangerous; pull off to the side of the ramp immediately and stop instead. Misreading: Treats wrong-way entry as an exit-finding problem, misapplying the missed-exit rule (if you miss your exit, go to the next one, p.35) and ignoring the manual's order to pull off the ramp at once.

C. Speed up to clear the ramp and merge before oncoming vehicles arrive.

The procedure is to pull off, stop, and turn on your hazard lights, not to accelerate into oncoming traffic on the ramp. Misreading: Inverts the manual's instruction to pull off and stop, misapplying the entering-a-freeway instruction to speed up and merge (p.34) to a ramp you have entered the wrong way.

D. Pull to the right shoulder, turn on your hazard lights, and stay near your vehicle until help arrives.

That is the procedure for vehicle trouble on a freeway. A wrong-way entry calls for self-recovery: pull off, stop, hazards, then cautiously turn around or back off the ramp; you do not wait for help. Misreading: Misapplies the Vehicle Trouble procedure (move to the right shoulder, turn on hazard lights, stay in or near your vehicle, p.35) to a wrong-way ramp entry, where the manual instead says to turn around or back off.

The Rule

This question tests your knowledge of Lane Changes & Merging in Oregon. Source: Oregon Driver Manual, "Entering a Freeway," p.34..

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