You may drive around or under a gate that is being lowered or raised at a railroad crossing:
- As long as an approaching train is not too close.
- If your vehicle can do so without damaging the gate.
- If you first look carefully in both directions.
- Under no circumstances. ✓
Answer: D. Under no circumstances.
You may never drive around or under a railroad crossing gate that is being lowered or raised — under no circumstances.
Why this is the answer
The handbook says that when crossing gates have been lowered you must stop and stay stopped until the train passes and the gates are raised before crossing. It also says to stop when the lights begin to flash before the gate lowers across your side of the road, and to remain stopped until the gates are raised and the lights stop flashing. A gate that is still moving, up or down, means the warning is still active, so you wait it out. Trains cannot stop at crossings and always have the right-of-way, so squeezing past a moving gate leaves you no margin.
Why the other answers are wrong
- A. As long as an approaching train is not too close. — Judging that an approaching train is far enough away is not something the handbook lets you do at a gated crossing, and trains cannot stop for you even when they look distant.
- B. If your vehicle can do so without damaging the gate. — Whether your vehicle fits without striking the gate is beside the point, since the gate is a warning that tells you to stop, not an obstacle to slip past.
- C. If you first look carefully in both directions. — Looking both ways does not replace the gate signal, because the handbook requires you to stay stopped until the gates are raised and the lights stop flashing.
Remember it
A gate in motion means the warning is still on: wait for it to finish, then cross.