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Difficulty: Very hardSpace to Cross or Enter Traffic

You are operating a fully loaded, 70-foot tractor-trailer combination. You are stopped at a two-lane crossroad, preparing to cross a four-lane divided highway with a 30-foot wide center median. Which of the following best describes the correct procedure for judging the necessary space to execute this crossing safely?

  1. You must wait for a single, simultaneous gap in both directions of traffic that allows your slow-accelerating vehicle to clear all four lanes at once, because the median is too narrow to hold your vehicle.Answer
  2. B
    You can cross the near lanes and stop in the center median if you steer sharply to compensate for trailer off-tracking, pulling the trailer completely out of the near lanes.
  3. C
    You should calculate the required gap by ensuring approaching vehicles are at a distance equal to their mechanical braking distance, assuming they will yield once your trailer enters their lane.
  4. D
    You should determine the required time gap in the crossing traffic by using the formula of one second for every 10 feet of your vehicle's length, adding an extra second due to your heavy load.

Answer

You must wait for a single, simultaneous gap in both directions of traffic that allows your slow-accelerating vehicle to clear all four lanes at once, because the median is too narrow to hold your vehicle.
When crossing a divided highway, if the center median is narrower than your vehicle's total length, you cannot safely stop in the median. Doing so would leave the rear of your vehicle protruding into the active traffic lanes, causing an extreme collision hazard. Therefore, you must treat the crossing as a single intersection and wait for a large, simultaneous gap in both directions of traffic. Additionally, because a fully loaded commercial vehicle requires substantial time to accelerate from a dead stop, this gap must be significantly larger than what a passenger vehicle would require.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the physical constraints of the vehicle and the roadway.
The vehicle is 70 feet long, but the median is only 30 feet wide.
Comparing these dimensions reveals that the vehicle cannot safely stop in the median.
2
Evaluate the vehicle's acceleration capabilities.
The vehicle is fully loaded, meaning it will accelerate very slowly from a dead stop.
Heavy weight drastically increases the time and space required to move the vehicle across multiple lanes.
3
Determine the necessary traffic gap based on the constraints.
A single, large gap in both the near and far lanes simultaneously is required to cross without stopping.
Since the median cannot provide a safe refuge, the entire maneuver must be completed in one continuous motion without interrupting cross traffic.

Key Concept

Space to Cross or Enter Traffic
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Topics

Space to Cross or Enter Traffic

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