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Difficulty: EasyEvasive Steering and Avoiding Collisions

When an unexpected hazard requires a commercial vehicle driver to execute a sharp evasive turn to avoid a collision, which of the following is the correct rule regarding the use of the brakes?

  1. A
    Apply the service brakes firmly throughout the entire steering maneuver to rapidly decrease total stopping distance.
  2. Avoid applying the brakes while turning to prevent locking the wheels and losing directional control.Answer
  3. C
    Lock the drive wheels immediately with the trailer hand brake to force the vehicle into a controlled straight-line slide.
  4. D
    Use continuous light brake pressure during the turn to compensate for allowable steering wheel play.

Answer

Avoid applying the brakes while turning to prevent locking the wheels and losing directional control.
According to official CDL guidelines, drivers must avoid applying the brakes while making a sharp evasive turn. Braking while turning readily locks the wheels, destroying tire traction and rendering the vehicle unable to steer around the obstacle.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Assess the immediate obstruction and decide to steer around the hazard
Driver recognizes that steering requires less distance than coming to a full stop at road speeds
Commercial motor vehicles can almost always turn to miss an obstacle much more quickly than they can stop.
2
Keep feet off the brake pedal while executing the sharp steering maneuver
Rolling tires maintain maximum lateral adhesion and responsive directional control
Applying the brakes while turning heavily loads tires, making wheel lockup and uncontrollable skids extremely likely.
3
Counter-steer to straighten the vehicle once the obstacle is cleared
Vehicle stabilizes smoothly into the clear lane or shoulder without fishtailing
Counter-steering arrests the lateral momentum and prevents secondary loss-of-control skids.

Key Concept

Maintaining rolling tire traction by not braking during emergency evasive steering maneuvers.
Estimated Time:45s
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Topics

Evasive Steering and Avoiding Collisions

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