Examkin

Question

Difficulty: MediumFog and Poor Visibility

You are driving along a road in thick fog and can see the rear lights of a vehicle travelling ahead. Why is it dangerous to follow closely behind this vehicle's tail lights?

  1. A
    It can cause your vehicle's safety warning lights to activate on the instrument panel
  2. It gives a false sense of security and can lead to following too closely or off courseAnswer
  3. C
    It encourages you to focus solely on the vehicle ahead rather than scanning the wider road
  4. D
    It reduces the overall stopping distance needed if the road surface is damp

Answer

Following tail lights closely gives a false sense of security and can lead to following too closely or off course.
Highway Code Rule 235 explicitly warns drivers not to hang on to the tail lights of the vehicle in front. Doing so provides a false sense of security, which frequently causes drivers to travel too fast, reduce their safe following distance, and risk following the other vehicle into an accident if that driver makes a mistake.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the visibility condition and the proposed driver behaviour
The driver is navigating in thick fog and considering using the vehicle ahead as a visual guide.
Fog severely impairs depth perception and road outline visibility.
2
Apply Highway Code Rule 235 regarding vehicle separation and lighting in fog
Drivers must never hang on to the tail lights of a lead vehicle.
Lead drivers can make errors, brake unexpectedly, or miss road markers, leading the trailing vehicle into a collision or off the road.
3
Select the option that correctly describes the specific hazard of this behaviour
The correct response identifies that tail lights create a false sense of security and increase collision risk.
Maintaining proper separation and independent scanning ensures safety.

Key Concept

Maintaining safe separation and avoiding reliance on lead vehicle tail lights in fog (Highway Code Rule 235)
Estimated Time:1m 0s
Rate this question

Topics

Fog and Poor Visibility

More questions from this topic