You are driving on the freeway. The vehicle in front of you is a large truck. You should drive:
- Closely behind the truck in bad weather because the driver can see farther ahead than you can.
- Farther behind the truck than you would when following a passenger vehicle. ✓
- No more than one car length behind the truck so the driver can see you.
Answer: B. Farther behind the truck than you would when following a passenger vehicle.
Drive farther behind a large truck than you would when following a passenger vehicle.
Why this is the answer
The handbook warns against following too closely and says tailgating shrinks your safety distance. It also explains that large trucks take longer to stop than passenger cars at the same speed, and they need extra space ahead in case they must stop suddenly. That means you should leave more room when the vehicle ahead is a truck than when it is a passenger vehicle. The passages do not support crowding a truck in bad weather or staying within one car length.
Why the other answers are wrong
- A. Closely behind the truck in bad weather because the driver can see farther ahead than you can. — Driving closely behind in bad weather is not supported; the handbook says not to follow too closely, and it does not say the truck driver can see farther ahead for you.
- C. No more than one car length behind the truck so the driver can see you. — Staying no more than one car length behind so the driver can see you is not in the handbook and is the kind of close following it warns against.
Remember it
When the vehicle ahead is big, make the gap bigger.