When a truck is passing you, what does the manual say helps the truck driver most?
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A.
Moving onto the shoulder to give room
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B.
Slightly reducing your speed Correct
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C.
Flashing your headlights as a signal
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D.
Speeding up to help finish the pass
The answer is "Slightly reducing your speed"
The manual tells you to keep to the far side of your lane and slightly reduce your speed while a truck is passing. Choice D is the trap for drivers who take "help the truck driver" to mean accelerating to end the pass sooner; the same paragraph rules out speeding up while the truck is going by.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Moving onto the shoulder to give room
The manual only asks you to keep to the far side of your own lane, not to leave it. Confuses 'far side of your lane' with leaving the lane entirely, borrowing the shoulder move drivers use for approaching emergency vehicles.
C. Flashing your headlights as a signal
The manual mentions the truck driver flashing lights at you, not the reverse. Recalls that flashing headlights are part of car-truck communication and reverses the direction: the manual has you flash when you are the one passing, and the truck flash back to signal you can pull in.
D. Speeding up to help finish the pass
The manual rules this out in the same sentence, telling you not to speed up while the truck is passing. Follows the rule of thumb 'if a big vehicle is alongside, get the pass over faster,' missing that matching the truck's speed actually extends the time you spend alongside it.
This question tests your knowledge of Defensive Driving in Texas. Source: Texas Driver Manual, "Share the Road with Trucks - Passing," p.51..
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