A law enforcement officer at an intersection is directing traffic in a way that contradicts the traffic light. According to the Texas manual, whose direction must you follow?
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A.
Stop and wait until the officer and signal give matching directions.
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B.
Obey the officer's directions even when they conflict with the signal. Correct
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C.
Follow whichever instruction reaches you first as you approach.
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D.
Obey the signal, since a signal is a formal traffic control device.
The answer is "Obey the officer's directions even when they conflict with the signal."
The manual makes the officer's direction override the signal whenever an officer is directing traffic, even when the direction would ordinarily be against the law. Option D is the trap for drivers who treat the signal as final authority and defer to the machine instead of the person waving them through.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Stop and wait until the officer and signal give matching directions.
The manual does not tell you to wait for the two authorities to align; the officer's direction alone controls. Splits the difference between two authorities, which the passage settles by naming the officer as the winner.
C. Follow whichever instruction reaches you first as you approach.
The manual sets the officer above the signal outright; order of arrival never enters the rule. Applies a first-come idea from intersection right-of-way to a scenario Texas settles by authority.
D. Obey the signal, since a signal is a formal traffic control device.
The manual reverses this priority: the officer overrides the signal, not the other way around. Defers to the machine when Texas asks the driver to defer to the person.
This question tests your knowledge of Traffic Lights in Texas. Source: Texas Driver Manual, "Traffic Signals," p.25..
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