When approaching a steady yellow traffic light, drivers should:
- Accelerate to avoid a red light.
- Continue driving, as they have the right-of-way.
- Slow to a stop, unless they are already within the intersection. ✓
- Check to see what the cars next to them are doing.
Answer: C. Slow to a stop, unless they are already within the intersection.
When you approach a steady yellow light, slow down and come to a stop unless you are already within the intersection.
Why this is the answer
The manual explains that a steady yellow light means the signal is changing from green to red, so you should be ready to stop for the red. That makes slowing to a stop the correct response when you still have room to stop safely. If your car has already entered the intersection, stopping there would leave you sitting in the middle of traffic, so you keep going and clear it. The handbook does not say to speed up or treat yellow as permission to keep your right-of-way.
Why the other answers are wrong
- A. Accelerate to avoid a red light. — Speeding up is the opposite of what the manual tells you to do, since a steady yellow means the light is about to turn red and you should be prepared to stop.
- B. Continue driving, as they have the right-of-way. — A steady yellow light is a warning that red is coming, not a grant of right-of-way, and the manual only says to be ready to stop.
- D. Check to see what the cars next to them are doing. — The manual tells you what the steady yellow light itself means, so your decision comes from the signal rather than from copying the cars beside you.
Remember it
Yellow is a warning, not a go-ahead: if you can stop safely before the line, do it; if you're already in the box, finish crossing.