Driver's License Test Prep
Texas Practice Passing

You are getting ready to pass a truck on a Texas highway at night. According to the manual, how should you tell the truck driver you are passing?

  1. A.
    Wave from the driver's window.
  2. B.
    Slow to five miles below the truck's speed.
  3. C.
    Flash your headlights. Correct
  4. D.
    Tap your horn twice.
The Why

The answer is "Flash your headlights."

The manual asks you to flash your headlights so the truck driver knows you are coming up alongside, especially at night. Some drivers reach for a horn tap because that is what the two-lane passing steps name; the truck-passing section instead names the headlight flash, since the horn is easy to miss from a truck cab.

Why the others miss

The traps in the wrong answers

A. Wave from the driver's window.

A hand wave is not the alert the manual gives for passing a truck at night. This answer substitutes an informal courtesy wave for the headlight flash the truck-passing section explicitly names.

B. Slow to five miles below the truck's speed.

The manual asks the passing car to complete the pass quickly, not to slow before it starts. This answer assigns the courtesy speed drop to the passing car; the manual asks the truck, not you, to make room.

D. Tap your horn twice.

The horn tap comes from the two-lane basic passing rules, not from the truck section. This answer applies the two-lane horn tap to a truck-passing situation the manual singles out for a headlight flash.

The Rule

This question tests your knowledge of Passing in Texas. Source: Texas Driver Manual, "Chapter 9: Some Special Driving Situations (Share the Road with Trucks)," p.50..

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