What do large flashing arrow panels indicate?
- Drivers should merge into the lane indicated by the arrow. ✓
- There is something to look at in the direction of the arrow.
- Drivers may stay in their current lane.
- Drivers should come to a complete stop.
Answer: A. Drivers should merge into the lane indicated by the arrow.
Large flashing arrow panels tell drivers to merge into the lane the arrow points to.
Why this is the answer
The Texas handbook says large flashing or sequencing arrow panels may be used in work zones day and night. Their job is to guide drivers into certain traffic lanes and to inform them that part of the road ahead is closed. So the arrow is directing you toward the lane you should use, which means you should merge into the lane indicated rather than simply looking that way, staying where you are, or stopping.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. There is something to look at in the direction of the arrow. — Looking in the direction of the arrow is not the purpose; the panel is there to move traffic into a specific lane.
- C. Drivers may stay in their current lane. — Staying in your current lane ignores the panel's job of guiding drivers into certain lanes when part of the road ahead is closed.
- D. Drivers should come to a complete stop. — A complete stop is not what the panel directs; it guides drivers into the lane indicated by the arrow.
Remember it
Think of the flashing arrow as a lane assignment in a work zone: it points to the lane you should take.
Official handbook: Texas Driver Handbook (DL-7), Chapter 5: Signals, Signs, and Markers , p. 36