When your right wheels run onto a soft shoulder, what is the best way to get back on the highway?
- Apply the brakes firmly and steer gently to the left
- Ease your foot off the gas and brake gently ✓
- Steer hard to the left and then gently to the right
- Apply the brakes firmly and stop completely
Answer: B. Ease your foot off the gas and brake gently
Ease your foot off the gas and brake gently until the car has slowed, then turn carefully back onto the pavement.
Why this is the answer
The manual's rule for running off the pavement is to avoid any sudden steering or swerving back onto the road. Instead, you lift off the gas pedal and brake gently, letting the vehicle slow down first. Only after your speed has dropped do you check for traffic behind you and turn carefully back onto the pavement. The point is to keep the car settled so you don't swing sharply across the road while still moving fast.
Why the other answers are wrong
- A. Apply the brakes firmly and steer gently to the left — Braking firmly is the opposite of the gentle braking the manual calls for, and steering back while still at speed is the sudden move it warns against.
- C. Steer hard to the left and then gently to the right — Steering hard in either direction is exactly the sudden swerve the manual tells you to avoid when your wheels leave the pavement.
- D. Apply the brakes firmly and stop completely — The manual does not tell you to stop completely on the shoulder; it says to slow down, check behind you, and then turn carefully back onto the pavement.
Remember it
Slow down first, steer second: get your speed down before you turn the wheel back toward the lane.