You see a MERGING TRAFFIC sign on a major roadway. What does the manual say about right-of-way?
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A.
Entering traffic must yield to traffic already on the major roadway. Correct
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B.
Both drivers must come to a full stop before completing the merge.
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C.
The driver in the heavier or larger vehicle has priority.
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D.
Through drivers must change lanes to make room for vehicles entering from the ramp.
The answer is "Entering traffic must yield to traffic already on the major roadway."
The Merging Traffic sign warns that vehicles will enter from a ramp or another roadway, and the entering traffic is the party required to yield. Choice C catches drivers who have absorbed the trucker's rule that tonnage owns the road; the sign turns on which vehicle is already on the major roadway, not on vehicle size.
The traps in the wrong answers
B. Both drivers must come to a full stop before completing the merge.
A full stop in a moving traffic stream would cause a crash, not prevent one. This answer applies the four-way-stop rule to a highway merge, where the manual expects adjustment of speed rather than stopping.
C. The driver in the heavier or larger vehicle has priority.
Vehicle size does not decide priority when a ramp meets a highway. This answer repeats the trucker folklore that bigger rigs get the road, which the sign's rule does not endorse.
D. Through drivers must change lanes to make room for vehicles entering from the ramp.
The sign warns of merging traffic but does not require through drivers to leave their lane; the yield duty runs the other way. This answer treats the highway courtesy of easing over for on-ramp vehicles as if the sign made it a legal requirement.
This question tests your knowledge of Lane Changes & Merging in Pennsylvania. Source: Pennsylvania Driver Manual, "Warning Signs: Merging Traffic," p.14..
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