You're on an undivided Oregon road when a school bus ahead begins flashing its red lights and extends a stop arm. What must you do?
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A.
Slow down, then proceed past slowly.
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B.
Stop and remain stopped until red lights stop flashing. Correct
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C.
Stop only if you can see children waiting to board.
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D.
Yield only if you see a child crossing.
The answer is "Stop and remain stopped until red lights stop flashing."
When the red lights flash, stop before reaching the bus and remain stopped until the driver turns off the flashing red lights. The flashing red signal means children are about to load or unload, and moving traffic is the largest risk to them. Flashing amber lights warn that the red lights are about to come on (prepare to stop); the red lights themselves are the actual stop signal. Reading a flashing red the way one would a flashing yellow warning, as slow and proceed, is where A leads, producing a roll-past instead of the full stop the signal demands.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Slow down, then proceed past slowly.
Flashing red lights require a full stop, not a slow roll past. This answer treats flashing red lights like a flashing yellow warning (slow and proceed) instead of the stop signal that flashing red lights actually are.
C. Stop only if you can see children waiting to board.
The same-side exception applies only on a divided highway separated by an unpaved median or barrier; on an ordinary road, all traffic must stop. This answer treats the narrow divided-highway exception (same-side stop only when an unpaved median or barrier separates the roads) as the general rule, ignoring that on undivided roads every direction must stop.
D. Yield only if you see a child crossing.
The stop is required whenever the red lights flash, not only when a child is visible. This answer treats the stop as conditional on seeing a child, when the rule requires stopping whenever the red lights flash, regardless of whether a child is currently visible.
This question tests your knowledge of Sharing the Road in Oregon. Source: Oregon Driver Manual, "Sharing the Road - School, Places of Worship or Worker and Public Transit Buses - School Buses," p.55..
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