Your accelerator pedal sticks while you're driving on an Oregon road. What does the Oregon manual tell you to do with the transmission?
-
A.
Shift to Reverse to slow the vehicle.
-
B.
Shift to neutral, using an open palm. Correct
-
C.
Shift to a lower gear so the engine slows you down.
-
D.
Shift to Park immediately.
The answer is "Shift to neutral, using an open palm."
The Oregon manual's accelerator-sticks procedure says to shift to neutral using an open palm, which keeps your hand from accidentally selecting another gear. After neutral, steer smoothly while braking and pull off when it is safe. A driver who carries the 'shift to a lower gear' step over from the brakes-fail procedure on the same page lands on C, but engine braking is not the accelerator-sticks response; neutral is.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Shift to Reverse to slow the vehicle.
Reverse is not the instructed response; the manual says shift to neutral. This answer treats Reverse as a braking aid, when it is one of the gears the open-palm rule exists to keep your hand off.
C. Shift to a lower gear so the engine slows you down.
Shifting to a lower gear is the brakes-fail step on the same page, not the accelerator-sticks step. For a stuck accelerator, the manual prescribes neutral. This answer borrows the 'shift to a lower gear' step from the brakes-fail procedure; the accelerator-sticks procedure prescribes neutral, not engine braking.
D. Shift to Park immediately.
Shifting to Park at speed can lock the wheels or damage the transmission. The manual prescribes neutral, not Park. This answer treats Park as the safe destination gear; the open-palm technique exists precisely to keep your hand from grabbing Park or Reverse.
This question tests your knowledge of Vehicle Equipment in Oregon. Source: Oregon Driver Manual, "Accelerator Sticks," p.85..
Related Oregon questions
- Your family is towing a general utility trailer on an Oregon road. May a passenger ride inside the trailer? →
- Your vehicle has to pass a safety check before Oregon's drive test. Which of these is on the required list? →
- Your brakes suddenly fail while you're driving in Oregon. What does the handbook tell you to do FIRST? →
- You experience a tire blowout while driving in Oregon. What's the correct response? →
- Your headlights stop working at night while driving in Oregon. What does the manual recommend? →
You just took one Oregon question apart. The book does it for the whole test.
The Oregon book unlocks a free companion: an adaptive study plan, progress synced across your devices, a denser laminate cheat sheet, and a test-day walkthrough. Verify your copy once, usually in seconds; there's nothing extra to buy.
$18.99 paperback, free companion included.