When you see an emergency vehicle parked, stopped, or standing with its emergency or hazard lights activated on a highway or parkway, you should:
- Move out of the lane closest to the emergency vehicle, if possible to do so safely ✓
- Make a U-turn to avoid the vehicle
- Maintain your speed and lane position if possible
- Stop behind the vehicle and activate your hazard lights
Answer: A. Move out of the lane closest to the emergency vehicle, if possible to do so safely
Move out of the lane closest to the emergency vehicle when you can do it safely.
Why this is the answer
The handbook says drivers must slow down for authorized emergency or hazard vehicles that are stopped with their lights on. On parkways, interstates and other controlled-access roads with several lanes, you also have to leave the lane next to that vehicle unless traffic or another hazard makes the move unsafe. That is why changing out of the adjacent lane, when safe, matches the rule; staying put is only acceptable when you cannot move over safely.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. Make a U-turn to avoid the vehicle — The handbook does not tell you to reverse direction; it tells you to reduce speed and, where the road has multiple lanes, move out of the lane next to the vehicle when safe.
- C. Maintain your speed and lane position if possible — Keeping your speed and lane position conflicts with the handbook, which calls for reducing speed and, on multi-lane controlled-access roads, moving over when you can do so safely.
- D. Stop behind the vehicle and activate your hazard lights — Stopping behind the vehicle with hazard lights on is not the rule for a parked emergency vehicle with lights activated; the handbook's move-over instruction is about changing lanes safely, not parking behind it.
Remember it
Think "slow down, then shift over" when lights are on a stopped emergency or hazard vehicle.