A driver entering interstate traffic from an entrance or acceleration ramp:
- Should yield to drivers already on the interstate. ✓
- Has the right-of-way.
- May force their way into traffic.
- Can assume that other drivers will change lanes to make room.
Answer: A. Should yield to drivers already on the interstate.
A driver entering interstate traffic from an entrance or acceleration ramp must yield to drivers already on the interstate.
Why this is the answer
The handbook describes how to enter a limited access highway: check for an opening on the ramp, signal, build speed in the acceleration lane, and merge when it is safe. It states plainly that you must yield the right-of-way to traffic on the highway, and that you should only merge when you can do it safely. That means the driver already on the interstate keeps the right-of-way while the entering driver waits for a safe gap.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. Has the right-of-way. — The handbook gives the right-of-way to the traffic already on the highway, not to the driver coming up the ramp.
- C. May force their way into traffic. — Forcing your way in is the opposite of merging only when you can do so safely, which the handbook requires.
- D. Can assume that other drivers will change lanes to make room. — Nothing in the handbook says other drivers must move over for you; the entering driver is the one who must yield.
Remember it
Think of the ramp as asking permission: match the highway's speed, signal, and slide in only after the traffic on the highway lets you.