You're outside city limits on a rural Oregon road and you want to make a U-turn. What visibility threshold must your vehicle satisfy?
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A.
500 feet of clear sight in each direction.
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B.
Visibility from both directions of at least 1,000 feet. Correct
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C.
Visibility of at least 100 feet.
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D.
Visibility from both directions of at least a quarter mile.
The answer is "Visibility from both directions of at least 1,000 feet."
Outside city limits, U-turns are prohibited at any location where your vehicle cannot be seen by traffic coming from either direction within 1,000 feet. The threshold reflects higher rural speeds: drivers approaching at 55+ mph need more sight distance to react to a vehicle making a U-turn. Inside city limits the sight-distance threshold drops to 500 feet, and a separate rule prohibits U-turns between intersections in a city (so in town you can U-turn only at intersections, subject to the signal and sign rules).
The traps in the wrong answers
A. 500 feet of clear sight in each direction.
500 feet is the inside-city-limits threshold; outside city limits the threshold is 1,000 feet. Misreading: Applies the inside-city 500-foot threshold to a rural location; the manual sets 1,000 feet outside city limits.
C. Visibility of at least 100 feet.
100 feet is the turn-signal distance, not a U-turn visibility threshold. Misreading: Confuses the 100-foot turn-signal advance distance with a U-turn visibility threshold.
D. Visibility from both directions of at least a quarter mile.
The threshold is 1,000 feet (about 0.19 miles), not a quarter mile (1,320 feet). Misreading: Rounds 1,000 feet up to a quarter mile; the manual specifies 1,000 feet, not 1,320 feet.
This question tests your knowledge of Turning in Oregon. Source: Oregon Driver Manual, "U-Turns," p.41..
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