The answer options
- Stay as close to your car as possible
- Look at the phone
- Stand on the hard shoulder
- Face towards oncoming trafficCorrect
Why that is the answer
When using a motorway emergency telephone, you should always face towards oncoming traffic. This allows you to see any approaching danger, such as a vehicle drifting off the carriageway, giving you time to react. Never stand on the hard shoulder or stay near your vehicle, as these areas are extremely dangerous. Highway Code guidance advises keeping well clear of the road and staying behind the safety barrier whenever possible.
How this comes up in the real test
Questions from motorway rules 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 motorway rules questions
- Before making a journey on the motorway it is important to check your vehicle fully. Why is this?
- Following a breakdown on the hard shoulder, how should you rejoin the motorway?
- How do smart motorways avoid traffic clustering?
- How should you deal with traffic already on the motorway when joining from a slip road?
- In England and Wales, traffic officers work on motorways as well as some secondary routes. What powers do they have?
- On a motorway, how are the lanes to be used?