Your vehicle has stalled and is stuck on a railroad track in Oregon. What's the FIRST thing you should do?
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A.
Try to push the vehicle off the tracks.
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B.
Get out of the vehicle and away from the tracks. Correct
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C.
Stay in the vehicle and call 911.
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D.
Try to restart the engine.
The answer is "Get out of the vehicle and away from the tracks."
Step one when stuck on the tracks is to evacuate. Get yourself and any passengers out and away from the tracks, even if no train is in sight. Once everyone is clear, look for an Emergency Notification System (ENS) sign at the crossing and call the listed number so the railroad can alert approaching trains. If a train is bearing down, move at a 45-degree angle from the tracks toward the direction the train is coming from so debris does not strike you when it hits the vehicle. What sinks answer C is placing the call from inside the vehicle: evacuation has to come before any notification step.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Try to push the vehicle off the tracks.
Saving the vehicle is not the priority; you and any passengers need to be off the tracks first. This answer treats the stranded vehicle as the priority; the manual's first listed step is to get out of the vehicle, not to move it.
C. Stay in the vehicle and call 911.
Staying inside leaves you in the path of a collision. Evacuate first, then call for help once you are clear. This answer inverts the order of the manual's steps: getting out and away from the tracks must happen before any notification step.
D. Try to restart the engine.
Trying to restart wastes seconds you do not have. Get out and away from the tracks first. This answer treats the vehicle as recoverable when the manual's first instruction is unconditional evacuation, even if no train is visible.
This question tests your knowledge of Sharing the Road in Oregon. Source: Oregon Driver Manual, "Railroad Crossings," p.64..
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