You are on a snow-packed road approaching an intersection with a red light. What does the manual suggest you do?
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A.
Accelerate through on yellow to avoid stopping on the slick surface.
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B.
Let your vehicle coast so you arrive as the light turns green and traffic moves. Correct
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C.
Brake firmly well ahead of the intersection to be sure you stop in time.
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D.
Downshift to first gear and hold the brake steady until the light changes.
The answer is "Let your vehicle coast so you arrive as the light turns green and traffic moves."
The manual tells you to time your arrival by coasting so the light is green and vehicles ahead have started moving, sparing you a full brake-and-restart on the slick surface. Drivers who fall back on the dry-pavement habit of braking firmly well ahead (choice C) miss that firm braking on packed snow is exactly what triggers the skid the coast technique is designed to avoid.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Accelerate through on yellow to avoid stopping on the slick surface.
Accelerating toward the intersection is not the manual's tactic; on icy or snow-packed roads, it advises timing your arrival by coasting rather than rushing the light. This answer substitutes a dry-road habit of beating the yellow for the coasting tactic the manual teaches for packed-snow approaches.
C. Brake firmly well ahead of the intersection to be sure you stop in time.
Firm braking on packed snow risks the very skid the coast technique is meant to avoid. This answer applies a dry-pavement stopping habit to a surface where hard braking breaks traction instead of shortening the stop.
D. Downshift to first gear and hold the brake steady until the light changes.
The manual reserves the shift-to-a-lower-gear tip for the start of a downhill, not for a red-light approach on packed snow. This answer confuses the downhill low-gear rule with the intersection-approach rule taught in the same paragraph.
This question tests your knowledge of Adverse Conditions in Pennsylvania. Source: Pennsylvania Driver Manual, "Snow and Ice," p.41..
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