What should you do when reaching an intersection where a person operating a motorized wheelchair has entered the crosswalk?
- Remain stopped behind the crosswalk line until the motorized wheelchair has safely finished crossing. ✓
- Remain stopped behind the nearest crosswalk line until the motorized wheelchair is beyond the range of your vehicle.
- Assume right-of-way if the motorized wheelchair stops in the crosswalk.
Answer: A. Remain stopped behind the crosswalk line until the motorized wheelchair has safely finished crossing.
Remain stopped behind the crosswalk line until the motorized wheelchair has safely finished crossing.
Why this is the answer
The handbook says pedestrians have the right-of-way in marked or unmarked crosswalks, and you must stop at the limit line when there is one so they can cross. It also defines a pedestrian as including a person with a disability who uses a wheelchair for transportation. That means a person in a motorized wheelchair gets the same protection. The handbook notes that people with disabilities may need extra time, so you wait until they have safely finished crossing.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. Remain stopped behind the nearest crosswalk line until the motorized wheelchair is beyond the range of your vehicle. — The handbook tells you to wait until the pedestrian safely finishes crossing; it does not set the stopping point at the nearest crosswalk line or at whatever point the wheelchair is beyond the range of your vehicle.
- C. Assume right-of-way if the motorized wheelchair stops in the crosswalk. — A person using a wheelchair is treated as a pedestrian, and pedestrians have the right-of-way, so the wheelchair stopping in the crosswalk does not give you the right to go.
Remember it
Treat a wheelchair user as a pedestrian: wait until they finish crossing, not just until they clear your bumper.