An Oregon traffic light is flashing red. How should you treat it?
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A.
As a yield sign: slow down and proceed when the way is clear.
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B.
Stop only if you can do so safely; otherwise drive carefully through.
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C.
Drive through without stopping if no traffic is visible.
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D.
As a stop sign: come to a complete stop, then go when safe. Correct
The answer is "As a stop sign: come to a complete stop, then go when safe."
Oregon treats a flashing red like a stop sign: come to a complete stop before the stop line or crosswalk, yield to any pedestrians and cross traffic, and proceed only when it is safe. Choice B is the tempting miss because it borrows the steady-yellow rule (if you cannot stop safely, drive carefully through) and misapplies it to a flashing red, which the manual makes as strict as a stop sign.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. As a yield sign: slow down and proceed when the way is clear.
A flashing yellow is closer to a yield (slow and proceed). A flashing red is more restrictive: you must stop. This answer half-remembers every flashing signal as slow-and-proceed and pictures a yield sign, missing that flashing red is the stricter of the two flashing colors.
B. Stop only if you can do so safely; otherwise drive carefully through.
That is the steady yellow rule, which warns the signal is about to turn red. A flashing red is treated as a stop sign: a complete stop is required every time, not only when stopping is convenient. This answer carries the steady-yellow habit of driving carefully through when a safe stop is not possible into a flashing red, treating the full stop as optional.
C. Drive through without stopping if no traffic is visible.
Any flashing red requires a complete stop at the line, regardless of visible traffic. This answer applies the empty-intersection rolling-stop habit drivers develop at quiet stop signs, ignoring that a flashing red is treated exactly like a stop sign.
This question tests your knowledge of Traffic Lights in Oregon. Source: Oregon Driver Manual, "Signs & Traffic Signals: Traffic Signals," p.15..
Related Oregon questions
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