A school bus ahead of you begins flashing its amber (yellow) lights. According to the manual, what does this signal?
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A.
The bus is preparing to stop for passengers. Correct
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B.
The bus is signaling a mechanical problem to other drivers.
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C.
The bus has finished loading and is pulling back into traffic.
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D.
The bus is asking following drivers to pass around it.
The answer is "The bus is preparing to stop for passengers."
Amber flashers on a school bus mean the driver is preparing to stop; the red lights and stop arm follow when the bus is actually stopped for children. Reading amber as a courtesy signal or a mechanical warning misses the intended sequence. D reads any amber flasher on a vehicle ahead as a courtesy pass-me cue, the way some read hazard blinkers on slow-moving vehicles.
The traps in the wrong answers
B. The bus is signaling a mechanical problem to other drivers.
Amber flashers on a school bus are a traffic warning, not a breakdown signal. This answer confuses the school bus amber warning system with the four-way hazard flashers used for a disabled vehicle.
C. The bus has finished loading and is pulling back into traffic.
The stop itself is marked by red flashers and the stop arm, not by amber lights. This answer swaps the meaning of amber lights, treating them as a stop-completed cue instead of a stop-approaching one.
D. The bus is asking following drivers to pass around it.
A school bus does not signal following traffic to pass with its amber warning lights. Amber warns that a stop is coming, not that it is safe to go around the bus. This answer reads any amber flasher on the vehicle ahead as a courtesy pass-me cue, the way some drivers interpret hazard blinkers on slow-moving vehicles.
This question tests your knowledge of Sharing the Road in Pennsylvania. Source: Pennsylvania Driver Manual, "Sharing the Road With Trucks and Buses - School Buses," p.58..
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