What should you do when this Hill sign warns of a downgrade ahead?
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A.
Reduce speed and shift to a lower gear before starting down. Correct
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B.
Stop completely at the crest before beginning the descent.
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C.
Yield to any vehicles climbing the grade from below.
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D.
Hold your speed and rely on the brakes throughout the descent.
The answer is "Reduce speed and shift to a lower gear before starting down."
The Hill sign warns that a steep downgrade is ahead, and the safe response is to slow down and shift to a lower gear before you start down so engine braking helps control your speed. The answer that says to hold your speed and rely on the brakes is the trap: it borrows the everyday habit of tapping the brakes on a mild slope, which lets the brakes overheat and fade on a real grade.
The traps in the wrong answers
B. Stop completely at the crest before beginning the descent.
A yellow diamond warns of a condition ahead and does not order a halt at the crest of the grade. Reads the yellow warning diamond as if it were the red-and-white regulatory shape that orders a full stop.
C. Yield to any vehicles climbing the grade from below.
Nothing on the Hill sign addresses right-of-way between uphill and downhill vehicles; it addresses only how you handle the descent. Borrows the mountain-road courtesy of yielding to a climbing vehicle and reads it into a plain downgrade warning.
D. Hold your speed and rely on the brakes throughout the descent.
Riding the brakes down a steep grade lets them overheat and fade, which is why the sign calls for gearing down instead. Falls back on the everyday habit of tapping the brakes to manage speed instead of pre-selecting a lower gear at the top.
This question tests your knowledge of Warning Signs on the roads of every US state . Source: Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, sign W7-1 (Hill)..
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