You are on a two-way street with parked cars close on your right and oncoming vehicles on your left. According to the manual, what should you do?
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A.
Speed up briefly to clear the stretch of parked cars faster.
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B.
Straddle the centerline until you are past the last parked vehicle.
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C.
Slow down and steer a middle course between the oncoming and parked vehicles. Correct
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D.
Hug the right side of your lane to give oncoming traffic extra room.
The answer is "Slow down and steer a middle course between the oncoming and parked vehicles."
The manual says to slow down and steer a middle course between the two lines of vehicles, treating the parked cars and the oncoming traffic as two hazards to balance against each other. Drivers who were taught to hug the right to leave room for oncoming traffic (choice D) forget that a parked-car door swinging open is the closer threat, which is why the manual tells you to split the difference instead.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Speed up briefly to clear the stretch of parked cars faster.
The manual calls for slowing down to split the difference, not accelerating to get past faster. This answer treats a two-sided hazard like a single obstacle you can outrun by picking up speed.
B. Straddle the centerline until you are past the last parked vehicle.
A middle course is centered within your own lane, not on top of the paint line between lanes. This answer overapplies the widest-berth rule of thumb by moving into the oncoming lane instead of splitting the difference within your own.
D. Hug the right side of your lane to give oncoming traffic extra room.
Hugging the right would put you inside the door zone of the parked cars, where doors open and people step out. This answer applies the 'move right when the hazard is on the left' habit without accounting for the second hazard on the right.
This question tests your knowledge of Defensive Driving in Pennsylvania. Source: Pennsylvania Driver Manual, "Keep a Space Cushion to the Sides," p.36..
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