You are getting on a highway which has a very short entrance lane. The safest way for you to enter the flow of traffic would be to:
- Use as much ramp as possible to get up to cruising speed
- Use the left lane of the highway to get up to cruising speed
- Wait for a large gap in traffic then speed up quickly ✓
- Get up to cruising speed gradually so other cars will see you
Answer: C. Wait for a large gap in traffic then speed up quickly
When the entrance lane is too short to reach highway speed, stop and wait for a large space in traffic, then enter and accelerate quickly.
Why this is the answer
The handbook says that if the entrance lane is too short to let you accelerate to expressway speed, the safest method is to stop and wait for a large space in traffic. Then you enter the expressway and accelerate quickly. The short lane means you cannot build speed on the ramp itself, so waiting for a big enough opening gives you room to pick up speed without crowding cars already on the highway.
Why the other answers are wrong
- A. Use as much ramp as possible to get up to cruising speed — Using as much ramp as possible to build speed is what the handbook advises for a normal ramp, but this ramp is too short for that to work.
- B. Use the left lane of the highway to get up to cruising speed — The left lane is where highway traffic is already moving fast, so using it to gain speed is not how you merge from an entrance lane.
- D. Get up to cruising speed gradually so other cars will see you — Speeding up gradually leaves you moving slowly among traffic that is already at highway speed, which is not the safe method described for a short lane.
Remember it
Short ramp? Think stop, wait for a big gap, then go and pick up speed fast.