You notice a driver ahead who appears to be distracted. What does the manual tell you to do?
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A.
Give plenty of room and maintain your safe following distance. Correct
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B.
Close the gap so they see you in their mirror.
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C.
Pass them as quickly as possible and move on.
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D.
Flash your headlights to get their attention.
The answer is "Give plenty of room and maintain your safe following distance."
The manual tells you to give a distracted driver plenty of room and keep your safe following distance. Drivers most often pick 'pass them quickly,' a habit imported from getting around slow cars; that habit puts you alongside a vehicle the manual has just warned may drift into your lane.
The traps in the wrong answers
B. Close the gap so they see you in their mirror.
Getting closer puts you inside the drift zone the manual is warning about; the fix is more space, not less. This answer applies a 'be seen' habit from mirror-check guidance to a driver the manual expects will not be looking.
C. Pass them as quickly as possible and move on.
A quick pass parks you alongside a vehicle that may drift into your lane, which is what the space-and-distance rule is trying to prevent. This answer reaches for a habit used to clear slow traffic, ignoring that the manual expects this driver to drift.
D. Flash your headlights to get their attention.
The manual does not tell you to signal a distracted driver with your lights; it tells you to give them room. This answer confuses signaling in low-visibility guidance with rousing another driver, something the manual never advises.
This question tests your knowledge of Distracted Driving in Texas. Source: Texas Driver Manual, "Distracted driving," p.53..
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