A paved area outlined in white and filled with white diagonal stripes sits between a through lane and an off-ramp. What does this marking require of a driver approaching it?
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A.
Steer around it and stay in a defined lane on one side. Correct
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B.
Drive across it only when changing lanes to merge.
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C.
Stop at the stripes and yield to through traffic.
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D.
Use it as an extra travel lane during heavy congestion.
The answer is "Steer around it and stay in a defined lane on one side."
A painted channelizing island marks a neutral area, and the rule is to keep out of it: steer around the stripes the way you would a raised island and settle into a defined lane on one side before you reach the point. The trap is the answer that treats the striped gore as pavement to drive across on the way into an exit. Gore stripes and merge markings sit next to each other in the same places, so a driver who has watched cars cut across one reads the other as fair use, when the stripes are telling them to stay out.
The traps in the wrong answers
B. Drive across it only when changing lanes to merge.
The white stripes are not a merge zone; they mark a neutral area to steer around, not cross. This answer reads the striped gore beside the off-ramp as pavement to cut across while sliding over to exit.
C. Stop at the stripes and yield to through traffic.
No stop is called for; the island channels moving traffic rather than halting it. This answer mistakes the diagonal stripes for a stop bar or a painted yield triangle.
D. Use it as an extra travel lane during heavy congestion.
The island is a neutral area, not spare pavement; the driver's lane sits on one side of it. This answer treats the striped surface as an overflow lane whenever the through lanes back up.
This question tests your knowledge of Road Markings on the roads of every US state . Source: Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, marking 3B.25 (Painted Channelizing Island)..
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