Driver's License Test Prep
US Road Signs Guide Signs

You see this interchange advance guide sign one mile before your exit. What does it cue you to do?

Horizontal green freeway guide sign with a white border reading Lincoln Ave above the words EXIT one half MILE.
  1. A.
    Begin moving toward the right lane while keeping your speed. Correct
  2. B.
    Slow down in the through lane so you don't miss the exit.
  3. C.
    Exit immediately from whatever lane you happen to be in.
  4. D.
    Change to the left lane to let exiting traffic use the right lane.
The Why

The answer is "Begin moving toward the right lane while keeping your speed."

An advance guide sign is posted well ahead of the ramp, at two miles, one mile, and half a mile, so you can drift toward the right lane at highway speed. The trap is the answer that reads the mileage as a cue to slow down. That habit comes from surface-street warning signs that really do mean prepare to stop; at highway speed a mile out, braking in the through lane invites a rear-end hit.

Why the others miss

The traps in the wrong answers

B. Slow down in the through lane so you don't miss the exit.

The sign cues a lane change, not a speed change; slowing in the through lane risks a rear-end hit from following traffic. This answer treats the advance mileage as a reason to brake in place rather than a reason to change lanes early.

C. Exit immediately from whatever lane you happen to be in.

The sign is posted a mile or more ahead of the ramp so you have room to change lanes; the exit itself is still up the road. This answer reads the advance sign as an instruction to leave the freeway now rather than to prepare a lane change.

D. Change to the left lane to let exiting traffic use the right lane.

The exit is on the right, so the sign cues movement toward the right lane, not away from it. This answer confuses this advance guide with a merge warning telling through traffic to clear the right lane.

The Rule

This question tests your knowledge of Guide Signs on the roads of every US state . Source: Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, sign E1-1 (Interchange Advance Guide Sign)..

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