If you see orange construction signs and cones on a freeway, you must:
- e prepared for workers and equipment ahead
- Slow down because the lane ends ahead. ✓
- hange lanes and maintain your current speed.
Answer: B. Slow down because the lane ends ahead.
When orange construction signs and cones appear on a freeway, you must slow down, because a lane ahead is closed off by the work zone.
Why this is the answer
The handbook's work-zone section says warning signs and message boards appear when there are workers, slow-moving equipment, and closed lanes ahead, and slowing down is the first action it lists. Cones, drums, and barriers guide you through the zone, and you merge only when it is safe without crossing them. So the signs and cones are your signal to cut speed, leave extra room, and get ready for traffic that may slow or stop suddenly.
Why the other answers are wrong
- A. e prepared for workers and equipment ahead — Watching for workers and equipment is part of work-zone driving, but the handbook's direction when these signs and cones appear is to slow down, so being alert alone skips the speed change it asks for.
- C. hange lanes and maintain your current speed. — The handbook says to merge only when it is safe and without crossing the cones, so switching lanes at your current speed ignores both the closed lane and the need to slow.
Remember it
Treat a line of cones like a brake pedal: see cones, ease off the gas, and only change lanes where the barriers let you.