You are traveling in a pack of highway vehicles and find yourself stuck in another driver's blind spot. What does the manual suggest?
-
A.
Turn on your hazard lights until the pack breaks apart.
-
B.
Move onto the right shoulder until the traffic thins.
-
C.
Reduce your speed by 2 or 3 mph to let the pack clear out. Correct
-
D.
Speed up sharply and pass the whole pack in one move.
The answer is "Reduce your speed by 2 or 3 mph to let the pack clear out."
A small speed drop lets the pack pull ahead, opens a space cushion, and gets you out of the blind spot. Drivers who reach for hazard lights (A) borrow the below-40-mph flasher rule for limited-access highways and stretch it to any dense-traffic problem, missing the two-to-three mph reduction the manual asks for here.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Turn on your hazard lights until the pack breaks apart.
Hazard lights do not open the space cushion needed to escape a blind spot in normal flowing traffic; the manual's fix here is a small speed reduction. This answer borrows the four-way flasher rule for driving below 40 mph on a limited-access highway and stretches it to any dense-traffic problem.
B. Move onto the right shoulder until the traffic thins.
The shoulder is not a driving lane for waiting out traffic; a small speed reduction is what the manual asks for. This answer treats the emergency shoulder as an extra travel lane rather than space reserved for disabled or emergency vehicles.
D. Speed up sharply and pass the whole pack in one move.
Aggressive acceleration through a pack risks a crash and can push you past the posted limit. This answer falls back on the highway-passing instinct that the fastest way out of a tight spot is to punch through it.
This question tests your knowledge of Lane Changes & Merging in Pennsylvania. Source: Pennsylvania Driver Manual, "TRAFFIC FLOW," p.43..
Related Pennsylvania questions
- You see a MERGING TRAFFIC sign on a major roadway. What does the manual say about right-of-way? →
- The manual lists three steps to merge with traffic from an acceleration lane. What is the first step? →
- You are in a highway acceleration lane and a slower vehicle is ahead of you in the same lane. What does the manual say? →
- A short weaving lane connects a highway entrance ramp to the next exit ramp. Who must yield? →
- Before you change lanes, what does the manual say to do in addition to checking your mirrors? →
You just took one Pennsylvania question apart. The book does it for the whole test.
The Pennsylvania 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.