If the signal light changes from green to amber as you approach an intersection, what should you do?
- Sound your horn to warn pedestrians and other drivers that you do not intend to stop
- Continue through the intersection without slowing or stopping
- Speed up to clear the intersection as quickly as possible
- Stop. If stop cannot be made safely proceed with caution ✓
Answer: D. Stop. If stop cannot be made safely proceed with caution
Stop before the intersection, and if you can't stop safely, go on through with caution.
Why this is the answer
The handbook describes a steady yellow light as "slow down and stop before the intersection unless you can't safely stop in time," and it ties yellow generally to caution. So the amber you see as the light changes is your cue to prepare to stop, not to push harder on the gas. The safety valve built into the rule is the phrase about not being able to stop in time: when you are already too close or your stop would be unsafe, you keep going, but carefully rather than at speed.
Why the other answers are wrong
- A. Sound your horn to warn pedestrians and other drivers that you do not intend to stop — Nothing in the handbook says a horn is used to announce that you don't plan to stop; the rule is about stopping when you safely can, not warning others that you won't.
- B. Continue through the intersection without slowing or stopping — The handbook says to slow down and stop before the intersection, so carrying on at the same speed ignores the caution the yellow light is giving you.
- C. Speed up to clear the intersection as quickly as possible — The handbook never tells you to speed up at a yellow light; it tells you to slow down and stop, and only to continue when a safe stop isn't possible.
Remember it
Amber starts your stop; only a stop you can't make safely lets you keep rolling.