When a traffic signal light turns green, you should:
- Yield the right-of-way to pedestrians. ✓
- Accelerate as quickly as possible.
- Back up slowly.
- Not move until another driver waves you on.
Answer: A. Yield the right-of-way to pedestrians.
When the light turns green, you go ahead only if it is safe, and you yield the right-of-way to pedestrians.
Why this is the answer
The handbook says a steady green light lets you drive through or turn, but only when it is safe, and that you should watch for cars and pedestrians in the intersection. It also says that when there is no pedestrian control signal, you give a pedestrian the right-of-way on a green light, and if the light changes after a pedestrian has already stepped into the crosswalk, you still yield to that person. So moving forward on green means letting people on foot clear your path first.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. Accelerate as quickly as possible. — A green light does not mean speed up; the handbook ties going on green to it being safe, so you check the intersection before you move.
- C. Back up slowly. — Backing up is not what a green light calls for, and the handbook's instruction about green is to watch for cars and pedestrians and then proceed forward or turn.
- D. Not move until another driver waves you on. — You are not required to sit still and wait for another driver to wave you through; the handbook lets you proceed on green when it is safe and you have yielded to those on foot.
Remember it
Green means go only after your eyes have checked the crosswalk and the intersection.
Official handbook: Texas Driver Handbook (DL-7), Chapter 4: Right-of-Way , p. 23