A curb painted red means:

1. Loading zone.
2. The area is reserved for picking up or dropping off passengers.
3. No parking, standing, or stopping. ✓

Answer: C. No parking, standing, or stopping.

A red curb means no parking, standing, or stopping.

Why this is the answer

The California Driver Handbook lists painted curb colors and their parking rules. For red, it says there is no stopping, standing, or parking. That is stricter than the other colored curbs in the passage, which allow limited stopping or parking for specific purposes. The same passage notes one limited exception: buses may stop at a red zone marked for buses only. So for a passenger car, a red curb tells you not to stop there at all.

Why the other answers are wrong

• A. Loading zone. — A loading zone is shown by a yellow curb, where you load and unload passengers and freight, not by a red curb.
• B. The area is reserved for picking up or dropping off passengers. — Picking up or dropping off passengers is the white curb rule, where you stop only long enough to do that; a red curb forbids stopping altogether.

Remember it

Think of a red curb as a full stop ban, not a short pause.