You're on an Oregon road with two or more lanes going the same direction and you approach a tow truck stopped on the right shoulder with its lights flashing. What does the handbook require?
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A.
Slow at least 5 mph below the posted limit but stay in your lane.
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B.
Change lanes so you do not drive next to the stopped vehicle. Correct
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C.
Maintain speed and lane: the stopped vehicle is on the shoulder, not in your lane.
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D.
Stop and wait until the stopped vehicle moves.
The answer is "Change lanes so you do not drive next to the stopped vehicle."
On a road with two or more lanes going the same direction, when you approach any motor vehicle stopped with its lights flashing, you must change lanes so you do not drive next to the stopped vehicle. Slowing at least 5 mph below the posted limit is permitted but does not replace the required lane change. Readers who reach for A treat that optional speed reduction as a substitute for the lane change, when the manual lists it only as an additional measure.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Slow at least 5 mph below the posted limit but stay in your lane.
Slowing at least 5 mph below the posted limit is permitted, but the manual lists it after the lane change as an additional measure ("You may also slow down"), not as a substitute. The required action is to change lanes. This answer treats the optional 5 mph speed reduction as if it replaced the required lane change; the manual requires changing lanes and only permits the speed reduction as an additional measure.
C. Maintain speed and lane: the stopped vehicle is on the shoulder, not in your lane.
The rule applies to any motor vehicle stopped with lights flashing on a road with two or more lanes going the same direction; the manual carves out no exception for vehicles on the shoulder. This answer invents a shoulder exemption; the rule covers any stopped motor vehicle with lights flashing, regardless of position on the roadway.
D. Stop and wait until the stopped vehicle moves.
The rule directs you to change lanes around the stopped vehicle, not to halt for it. This answer reads the rule as a stop-and-wait requirement; the manual requires a lane change, not stopping.
This question tests your knowledge of Sharing the Road in Oregon. Source: Oregon Driver Manual, "Approaching Stopped Vehicles," p.57..
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