A fire truck answering an alarm passes you and continues ahead with its lights flashing. How close may you follow it?
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A.
Keep at least three car lengths of space.
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B.
Stay 1,000 feet behind while the lights flash.
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C.
Do not follow within 500 feet of the truck. Correct
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D.
Stay at least 100 feet back on any road.
The answer is "Do not follow within 500 feet of the truck."
The manual sets a 500-foot buffer behind a fire truck answering an alarm or an ambulance with flashing red lights on. Wrong answer B catches drivers who round any safety figure up to a nicer 1,000 feet whenever the exact number slips.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Keep at least three car lengths of space.
The three-car-length rule for ordinary traffic does not replace the emergency-vehicle figure. This answer reaches for the everyday following gap when the manual actually calls for a much larger buffer.
B. Stay 1,000 feet behind while the lights flash.
The manual sets the buffer at 500 feet, not 1,000. This answer rounds the figure up to a nicer-sounding 1,000 feet on principle.
D. Stay at least 100 feet back on any road.
The manual sets a specific 500-foot buffer, not a generic safe-following gap. This answer applies a general "keep back a bit" habit in place of the specific figure.
This question tests your knowledge of Right of Way in Texas. Source: Texas Driver Manual, "Yield Right-of-Way to Emergency Vehicles," p.22..
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