You reach a railroad crossing pavement marking. Before starting onto the tracks, what must you have?
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A.
Enough room on the far side to fully clear the tracks. Correct
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B.
A green light at the intersection past the railroad crossing.
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C.
A hand signal from the driver who just crossed the tracks.
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D.
Lowered gates and flashing lights over the near side of the crossing.
The answer is "Enough room on the far side to fully clear the tracks."
You never roll onto the rails until there is space on the far side for your whole vehicle; a stall between them puts you in the path of a train. A green past the crossing controls the intersection ahead, not the rail behind it. Drivers who read that downstream signal as permission to enter, the way they would watch only the next light on an ordinary block, are the ones who end up stuck over the tracks.
The traps in the wrong answers
B. A green light at the intersection past the railroad crossing.
The green ahead controls the intersection past the crossing, not whether the rail itself is clear. Applies the ordinary city-block habit of watching only the next light, so a downstream green reads as permission to enter the tracks.
C. A hand signal from the driver who just crossed the tracks.
There is no rule that another driver signals you across the tracks. Substitutes a courtesy wave from the driver ahead for the manual's actual test of visible room on the far side.
D. Lowered gates and flashing lights over the near side of the crossing.
Lowered gates and flashing lights are a stop signal, not a clearance to proceed. Reads the lowered gate as authority to slip across ahead of the train, reversing what active warning devices mean.
This question tests your knowledge of Road Markings on the roads of every US state . Source: Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, marking 3B.21 (Railroad Crossing Pavement Marking)..
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