Sign shapes and colors are designed so that a driver can:
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A.
Recognize the sign's category at a glance. Correct
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B.
Read the sign's text more easily in daylight.
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C.
Be cued to slow down before reading the sign's text.
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D.
Know the speed limit for the road.
The answer is "Recognize the sign's category at a glance."
Each category of sign has a specific shape and color so you can recognize the type of sign at a glance, before reading its text. The shape and color tell you whether you are looking at a stop, yield, warning, regulation, guide, service, recreation, or work zone sign. That is why a yield triangle, a stop octagon, and a school pentagon all carry meaning even from a distance, at an angle, or in conditions where the text is not yet readable. Train your eye to read shape and color first; the text just confirms.
The traps in the wrong answers
B. Read the sign's text more easily in daylight.
Color and shape help you identify the type of sign at a glance, before the words are readable. They are not designed as a daylight text-legibility aid. Misreading: Misreads the at-a-glance recognition function as a daylight text-readability aid; the manual's point is that color and shape carry meaning before the words can be read at all.
C. Be cued to slow down before reading the sign's text.
Recognizing the category early helps you prepare to react, but the manual rule is about identifying the sign by color and shape, not a speed-reduction cue tied to reading. Misreading: Misreads the at-a-glance category recognition rule as a speed-reduction prompt; the rule is about which type of sign you are looking at, not how fast to drive when you see one.
D. Know the speed limit for the road.
Only the regulatory speed limit sign tells you the speed limit; shape and color alone do not. Misreading: Confuses the at-a-glance recognition function with the specific information carried by one regulatory sign, the posted speed limit.
This question tests your knowledge of Road Signs in Oregon. Source: Oregon Driver Manual, "Signs & Traffic Signals, Signs," p.7..
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