Railroad crossings is a high-danger zone and it is the driver's responsibility to ensure his own safety and the safety of his passengers when crossing the tracks. Trains are immensely heavy and they have very limited breaking capability, a train simply won't be able to stop to prevent an accident with a vehicle that suddenly appears on the tracks. Since questions on railroad crossings frequently appear on the North Carolina permit test, we decided to go ahead and cover couple of similar questions from our free North Carolina DMV practice test. Today's question covers the situation when you are approaching a railroad crossing and there are no signals flashing.
NC Permit Test Question
While doing practice test questions for the North Carolina permit test does a great job of testing your current knowledge of driving rules, we would like to remind you that there is no substitute for reading the official NC drivers handbook. The book is truly a wealth of knowledge and you can find all NC permit test answers there.
"IF THERE ARE NO SIGNALS AT A RAILROAD CROSSING, YOU SHOULD:"
A. Slow down and prepare to stop if you see or hear a train approaching
B. Proceed as quickly as possible over the tracks
C. Proceed through the crossing at a normal rate
D. Proceed slowly over the tracks
Know the answer to this permit test question already? Check if your answer is right at the bottom of the page. Otherwise, read on for justification of each one of these answers.
Permit Test Answers
Answer A to the North Carolina DMV practice test question tells us that even if there are no signals at a railroad crossing, you are still required to slow down and prepare to stop if you see or hear a train approaching. This sounds logical, after all, the signals may be malfunctioning, so there is no harm in playing it safe.
Answer B to the DMV NC practice test question tells us to proceed as quickly as possible over the tracks. While it is totally understandable that you would like to get past the tracks as quickly as possible once you are actually on them, there should definitely be no rush in getting there. If you go through the crossing too quickly, you may not have enough time to notice an approaching train.
Answer B to the NC DMV practice test tells us to proceed through the crossing at a normal rate. Just like with the previous answer, this does not seem to be correct. Your normal rate may still be too fast to notice any danger.
Answer C to the permit test question suggests that we proceed slowly over the tracks. While this is definitely safer than racing through the crossing at full speed, it is still not the optimal choice.
Correct Answer To The North Carolina Permit Test Question
The correct answer to this NC DMV permit test question is A:
“IF THERE ARE NO SIGNALS AT A RAILROAD CROSSING, YOU SHOULD SLOW DOWN AND PREPARE TO STOP IF YOU SEE OR HEAR A TRAIN APPROACHING”
Remember, there is definitely no harm in playing it safe. Even if you have been to a crossing a hundred times and there is virtually no train traffic there, never rush with going through the crossing. Should you miss the train coming, there is no way for the train to stop or avoid an accident.
You may also follow these simple safety tips when going through a railroad crossing:
- Look left, right and then left again as you approach the railroad crossing
- Don't try to pass anyone while approaching the crossing
- Make sure you will not get stuck on the track should the vehicle in front of you stop. Check if there is enough space for you to leave the tracks before you start crossing (if you do get trapped on the tracks and there is a train coming, leave the vehicle and get as far away from the tracks as possible)
- On a multi-track crossing, never cross immediately after the train passes, there may be a second train coming the other way. Wait until you have a clear view in both direction
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