What is the safest response for a driver traveling in the right lane who sees this Right Lane Closed Ahead sign?
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A.
Merge out of the right lane early rather than waiting for it to end Correct
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B.
Stay in the right lane until it physically ends, then merge left
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C.
Come to a stop at the sign and wait for the lane to reopen
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D.
Move all the way to the far left lane before reaching the work zone
The answer is "Merge out of the right lane early rather than waiting for it to end"
The sign is posted in advance of the closure so you have time to find a safe gap and merge out of the right lane before the lane runs out. Move over while traffic is still flowing at speed, not once you reach the taper. Drivers who read the advance warning as permission to ride the closing lane to the last inch, then force a merge where it ends, are the ones who miss this.
The traps in the wrong answers
B. Stay in the right lane until it physically ends, then merge left
The sign is posted in advance so you leave the closing lane before it runs out, not after. This answer treats the advance warning as permission to ride the closing lane all the way to the taper, on the reasoning that the lane is still legally open until the pavement narrows.
C. Come to a stop at the sign and wait for the lane to reopen
This is an orange work-zone warning about a closure ahead, not a regulatory sign that halts traffic. This answer reads the orange warning diamond as if it carried the authority of a red-and-white regulatory stop sign, treating a hazard alert as an order to halt.
D. Move all the way to the far left lane before reaching the work zone
The sign closes one lane and asks you to leave it; it does not order traffic across the roadway to the leftmost lane. This answer overreads a single-lane closure as an order to shift as far left as the roadway allows, borrowing from the Move Over habit of leaving an extra lane of cushion beside a stopped emergency vehicle.
This question tests your knowledge of Construction Signs on the roads of every US state . Source: Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, sign W20-5 (Right Lane Closed Ahead)..
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