Turns, lanes, passing and parking
You stop to pick someone up and want to wait at the curb 10 feet from a fire hydrant. Under state rules, when is that allowed?
- Only if a licensed driver stays in the vehicle to move it in an emergency. Correct answer
- Only if you keep your engine running and your hazard lights on.
- Only if you stay for less than five minutes.
Why
Statewide, you may not park, stop or stand within 15 feet of a fire hydrant, and the manual gives a single exception: a licensed driver stays in the vehicle so it can be moved in an emergency. At 10 feet you are inside the zone, so the exception is the only way to wait there. The other two answers are not in the rule: neither running the engine with hazard lights on nor a short time limit makes it legal. These statewide rules apply even where no sign is posted.
Where this comes from
New York State Driver's Manual (MV-21), April 2026 version. The correct answer is Only if a licensed driver stays in the vehicle to move it in an emergency.
More on turns, lanes, passing and parking
- You want to park near an intersection controlled by a STOP sign. What is the closest you may legally park to the STOP sign?
- There is a fire station driveway on the opposite side of the street from where you want to park. What is the closest you may park to it?
- You need to stop briefly at the curb to unload a box of merchandise for a store. Which of these signs still allows that stop?
- You plan to change lanes on a multi-lane road. What is the minimum distance the law sets for signaling before the lane change?