You meet a large truck coming from the opposite direction on a two-lane Texas road. According to the manual, what should you do?
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A.
Move toward the center line so the truck driver can see you.
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B.
Speed up briefly so the truck clears past you sooner.
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C.
Pull onto the shoulder until the truck has passed fully.
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D.
Keep as far to your side as possible to avoid a sideswipe. Correct
The answer is "Keep as far to your side as possible to avoid a sideswipe."
The manual says to keep as far to the side as possible when you meet an oncoming truck, both to avoid a sideswipe crash and to reduce wind turbulence between the two vehicles. Turbulence pushes vehicles apart, not together, so side clearance is exactly what the rule protects. Option A is tempting because drivers instinctively move to be seen, but the manual tells you to do the opposite here: move away, not closer, to hold the lateral gap.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Move toward the center line so the truck driver can see you.
Moving toward the center line closes the side clearance the manual tells you to protect against a sideswipe. This answer assumes the danger is that the truck driver won't see you and treats visibility as the fix, when the manual names the sideswipe as the risk and treats side clearance as the fix.
B. Speed up briefly so the truck clears past you sooner.
The manual's rule for meeting an oncoming truck is about lateral space between the vehicles, not the time you spend alongside. This answer borrows the passing-a-truck advice about clearing the alongside zone quickly and applies it to an oncoming meeting, where the two vehicles are already closing at combined speed and the manual's concern is side-to-side clearance.
C. Pull onto the shoulder until the truck has passed fully.
The manual doesn't ask you to leave the lane when a truck is coming the other way; the truck-meeting rule asks only that you hold your side of the lane, not that you leave the roadway just because a large vehicle is approaching. This answer treats every oncoming semi as a hazard big enough to yield the whole lane for, borrowing the rural courtesy some drivers extend to wide loads and logging trucks and applying it to an ordinary meeting.
This question tests your knowledge of Sharing the Road in Texas. Source: Texas Driver Manual, "Share the Road with Trucks, Passing," p.51..
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