Turns, lanes, passing and parking
Your car breaks down and you have to stop on a freeway. What does the handbook tell you to do while you wait for help?
- Park completely off the pavement and stay inside with the doors locked. Correct answer
- Leave the car and walk to the nearest exit to wait for help there.
- Stand behind the car so that you can wave other drivers around it.
Why
If you cannot avoid stopping on a freeway, the handbook asks for two things: get the vehicle completely off the pavement, and stay inside it with the doors locked until help arrives. Walking away from the car, or standing beside it to direct traffic, goes against that advice. Turn on your emergency flashers, or your turn signals if the car has no flashers, call for roadside assistance, and avoid stopping just over a hill or just around a curve, where other drivers may not see you in time. If you cannot get all the way off the road, stop where people behind can see you. And keep in mind that a vehicle left standing on a freeway longer than four hours can be removed.
Where this comes from
California Driver's Handbook, June 2025 edition. The correct answer is Park completely off the pavement and stay inside with the doors locked.
The rule behind this one
Turns, lanes, passing and parking in California goes through the whole topic, with the page of the California Driver's Handbook behind every rule.
More on turns, lanes, passing and parking
- You are towing a trailer on a highway with four lanes in your direction and no lane marked for slower vehicles. Which lanes may you use?
- You are using a two-way center left turn lane to prepare for a left turn. What is the maximum distance you may drive in that lane?
- In which of these situations is a U-turn NOT permitted?
- You park facing uphill on a street that has a curb. Which way should you turn your front wheels?