According to the Texas manual, when may you legally pass on a paved shoulder?
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A.
When the posted speed drops below 40 mph.
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B.
When the vehicle ahead is preparing to make a left turn. Correct
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C.
When you are hauling cargo taller than your roof.
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D.
When the shoulder is at least ten feet wide.
The answer is "When the vehicle ahead is preparing to make a left turn."
The manual carves out a narrow exception: you may pass on a paved shoulder when the vehicle ahead is preparing to make a left turn, or is slowing, stopped, or disabled on the main road. Learners who invent a shoulder-width threshold are filling in a measurement the manual never sets; the allowance turns on what the vehicle ahead is doing, not on how wide the shoulder is.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. When the posted speed drops below 40 mph.
There is no speed-drop threshold in the shoulder-passing rule. This answer ties the exception to a speed threshold pulled from unrelated urban-speed drills.
C. When you are hauling cargo taller than your roof.
The manual does not list a cargo condition; it lists what the vehicle you are passing is doing. This answer assigns the exception to the passing vehicle's load, when the manual instead ties it to the movement of the car ahead.
D. When the shoulder is at least ten feet wide.
The manual sets no shoulder-width figure for right-side passing. This answer invents a width measurement to justify shoulder use; the allowance the manual writes is triggered by the driver ahead, not by the shoulder itself.
This question tests your knowledge of Passing in Texas. Source: Texas Driver Manual, "Chapter 6: Signaling, Passing, and Turning (Passing on the Right)," p.39..
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