Safe driving and emergencies
You are on a narrow mountain road and a curve ahead keeps you from seeing at least 200 feet down the road. What does the handbook tell you to do?
- Use your horn to alert oncoming traffic. Correct answer
- Turn on your emergency flashers.
- Tap the brake pedal lightly three or four times.
Why
On a narrow mountain road, a blind curve hides you from oncoming drivers just as it hides them from you. When you cannot see at least 200 feet ahead, the handbook tells you to use your horn so oncoming traffic knows you are coming. The other two answers are real warning methods, but they point backward. Emergency flashers and three or four light taps on the brake pedal are how you warn drivers behind you about a collision or hazard you can see ahead, and flashers are also what you switch on when vehicle trouble forces you to stop. Neither one reaches a driver coming toward you around the bend. Beyond this case, the horn is for letting others know you are there and for avoiding collisions.
Where this comes from
California Driver's Handbook, June 2025 edition. The correct answer is Use your horn to alert oncoming traffic.
The rule behind this one
Safe driving and emergencies in California goes through the whole topic, with the page of the California Driver's Handbook behind every rule.
More on safe driving and emergencies
- You are driving at night with your high beams on and come up behind a vehicle going the same way. Within what distance of it must you switch to low beams?
- You are carrying lumber that sticks out 5 feet past your rear bumper. What must you display during the day?
- Your friends want to ride in the open bed of your pickup truck for a short trip. When is that allowed?
- How does the handbook tell you to check your blind spots?