When driving in traffic, it is safest to:

1. Fluctuate your speed to keep alert.
2. Drive faster than the flow of traffic.
3. Drive slower than the flow of traffic.
4. Drive with the flow of traffic. ✓

Answer: D. Drive with the flow of traffic.

The safest choice in traffic is to drive with the flow of traffic.

Why this is the answer

The handbook talks about the flow of traffic when it describes entering a freeway: you build speed in the speed change lane and merge with the flow once it is clear. It also sorts lanes by how your speed compares with the normal flow, telling you to keep right if you are at or below it and to use the middle or left lane if you are moving faster than others. Matching the pace of the cars around you keeps you predictable and fits the lane guidance the handbook gives.

Why the other answers are wrong

• A. Fluctuate your speed to keep alert. — Changing your speed back and forth makes you hard to predict, and nothing in the handbook suggests speeding up and slowing down to stay alert.
• B. Drive faster than the flow of traffic. — The handbook directs faster drivers to the middle or left lane for passing, not to running above the pace of the traffic around them.
• C. Drive slower than the flow of traffic. — The handbook puts slower driving in the right lane at or below the minimum posted speed, not spread through traffic moving faster than you.

Remember it

Think of merging: you match the pace of the cars already there instead of fighting it.