You're stopped at a railroad crossing in Oregon and the gate has just started to lower. What may you do?
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A.
Wait until the gate is fully up and the lights stop flashing. Correct
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B.
Proceed across the tracks if you do not see a train approaching.
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C.
Drive around it quickly before it fully lowers.
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D.
Drive under the gate if your vehicle clears.
The answer is "Wait until the gate is fully up and the lights stop flashing."
It is against the law to drive around or under a crossing gate, whether the gate is down, being lowered, or being raised. The gate is operating because a train is approaching or has just passed, and trying to beat it is one of the most common ways drivers are killed at crossings. Wait until the gate is fully up and the lights have stopped flashing. Activated flashing red lights themselves require you to stop, even if you cannot yet see the train. What trips up choice C is treating a gate mid-descent as if it were still open, but the manual bars going around a gate while it is being lowered.
The traps in the wrong answers
B. Proceed across the tracks if you do not see a train approaching.
The flashing red lights and lowering gate require you to stop even if no train is yet visible. This answer treats visual confirmation of a train as the trigger to stop; the manual requires stopping whenever flashing red lights are activated, regardless of whether a train is in sight.
C. Drive around it quickly before it fully lowers.
Driving around a lowering gate is explicitly illegal under Oregon law. This answer treats a lowering gate as still passable; the manual bars going around a gate while it is being lowered.
D. Drive under the gate if your vehicle clears.
Driving under a lowered or lowering gate is illegal regardless of vehicle height. This answer reads the prohibition as a clearance rule; the manual bars driving under a crossing gate regardless of vehicle height.
This question tests your knowledge of Sharing the Road in Oregon. Source: Oregon Driver Manual, "Railroad Crossings," p.64..
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