The answer options
- Speed up
- Slow downCorrect
- Maintain your speed
- Change lanes
Why the other options are wrong
- “Speed up” is a distractor. It does not meet the standard the question is testing, which slow down does. Picking it in the real test costs a mark you cannot get back, and with a pass mark of 43 out of 50 you only have seven to spare.
- “Maintain your speed” is a distractor. It does not meet the standard the question is testing, which slow down does. Picking it in the real test costs a mark you cannot get back, and with a pass mark of 43 out of 50 you only have seven to spare.
- “Change lanes” is a distractor. It does not meet the standard the question is testing, which slow down does. Picking it in the real test costs a mark you cannot get back, and with a pass mark of 43 out of 50 you only have seven to spare.
Why that is the answer
When a long, heavily laden lorry is overtaking, its size and speed restrictions mean the manoeuvre takes time. The Highway Code advises you to drop your speed slightly to help the driver complete the overtake safely and quickly, reducing the potential hazard to everyone nearby. Speeding up is dangerous and illegal in this situation, while maintaining your speed keeps you both in a vulnerable position for longer than necessary.
What attitude covers
- · Safe following distances and what to do when tailgated
- · Reacting to aggressive, hesitant or inconsiderate drivers
- · Emergency and slow-moving vehicles and how to let them pass
- · Use of the horn and headlight flashes as warnings, not invitations
Mistakes learners repeat on this topic
- · Flashing headlights to tell another driver to proceed
- · Braking sharply to discourage a tailgater
- · Sounding the horn in a built-up area at night out of frustration
- · Speeding up when a driver tries to overtake you
Instructor tip: When two answers are both polite, choose the one that increases the gap rather than the one that communicates.
How this comes up in the real test
Questions from attitude appear throughout the 50-question multiple-choice section, and the wording changes between versions. Learn the rule rather than the sentence: the DVSA can ask the same point from the opposite direction, and a memorised answer falls over the moment the phrasing moves.
The pass mark is 43 out of 50, so seven wrong answers is your entire margin. If a whole category is shaky, run the topic practice below until you are getting every question right for the right reason, then go back to full mocks under the clock.
More attitude questions
- A blue flashing beacon is used by which vehicle?
- A green flashing beacon is fitted on what type of emergency vehicle?
- A person herding sheep has asked you to stop. What should you do?
- At a puffin crossing, which colour follows the green signal?
- At which type of crossing are cyclists permitted to ride across while pedestrians are crossing?
- How can you avoid dazzling drivers behind you when waiting in a queue of traffic at night?