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New Mexico driving lesson · Right-of-Way, Speed & Parking

Emergency vehicles, school buses & trains

A 3-minute lesson from the New Mexico course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.

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Read time
3 minutes
Course unit
Right-of-Way, Speed & Parking
Checkpoint questions
6
Source pages
15

A few vehicles always get your yield: emergency vehicles with lights or sirens, school buses loading children, and trains. These rules apply no matter what the signal in front of you says.

Know the rule

Yield to a police vehicle, fire engine, ambulance or other emergency vehicle using a siren, air horn, or red or blue flashing light.

Handbook p. 15 ↗

Know the rule

When you see or hear one approaching from any direction, pull over to the right edge of the road, or as near to the right as possible.

Handbook p. 15 ↗

Know the rule

Follow any instructions given over the emergency vehicle's loudspeaker.

Handbook p. 15 ↗

Know the rule

If you're in an intersection, drive through it before you pull over.

Handbook p. 15 ↗

Know the rule

Stop for a school bus stopped with red lights flashing, whether it's on your side, the opposite side, or at an intersection you're approaching.

Handbook p. 15 ↗

Know the rule

Exception: you need not stop if the bus is traveling toward you and the roadway is separated by a median or other physical barrier.

Handbook p. 15 ↗

Know the rule

After the bus's red lights stop flashing, watch for children and don't move until they have completely left the roadway and it's safe.

Handbook p. 15 ↗

Know the rule

You must yield the right-of-way to trains crossing the roadway.

Handbook p. 15 ↗

Put it into practice

On an undivided two-lane road, a school bus facing you stops with red lights flashing. You must stop, because no median or barrier separates you. If a raised median divided the road, you could continue with care.

Put it into practice

You hear a siren while halfway through an intersection. Keep going through the intersection, then pull to the right and stop.

Check your understanding

Read the question, decide on an answer, then open it to check the explanation. These are Roadwise study questions based on the source handbook.

What should you do when you see or hear an approaching emergency vehicle with its siren or lights on?
  1. Pull to the left edge of the road
  2. Pull over to the right edge of the road
  3. Stop immediately wherever you are
  4. Speed up to clear the intersection first

Answer: Pull over to the right edge of the road

Pull over to the right edge of the road, or as near to the right as possible, for an approaching emergency vehicle.

Handbook p. 15 ↗
If you are already in an intersection when an emergency vehicle approaches, what should you do?
  1. Drive through the intersection before pulling over
  2. Pull to the right inside the intersection
  3. Pull to the left and stop
  4. Stop immediately in the intersection

Answer: Drive through the intersection before pulling over

If you're in an intersection, drive through it before you pull over for an emergency vehicle.

Handbook p. 15 ↗
When must you stop for a school bus with flashing red lights?
  1. Only if you are within a school zone
  2. Only during school arrival and dismissal hours
  3. Only if the bus is on your side of the road
  4. On your side, the other side, or at an intersection

Answer: On your side, the other side, or at an intersection

You must stop for a stopped school bus with flashing red lights regardless of which side it's on or if it's at an intersection.

Handbook p. 15 ↗
When are you NOT required to stop for a school bus with flashing red lights traveling toward you?
  1. When you are driving a commercial vehicle
  2. When a median or barrier separates you
  3. When the bus is on a four-lane road
  4. When you are more than one block away

Answer: When a median or barrier separates you

You are not required to stop if a median or other physical barrier separates the roadway from the bus.

Handbook p. 15 ↗
You only need to stop for a school bus's flashing red lights if it is on your side of the road.
  1. True
  2. False

Answer: False

You must stop whether the bus is on your side, the opposite side, or at an intersection you're approaching.

Handbook p. 15 ↗
A school bus is stopped with flashing red lights on the opposite side of an undivided two-lane road. What must you do?
  1. Slow down but you may proceed
  2. Only stop if children are visible
  3. Continue, since the bus is not on your side
  4. Stop, since there's no median or barrier

Answer: Stop, since there's no median or barrier

You must stop for a school bus with flashing red lights on either side unless a median or barrier separates the roadway.

Handbook p. 15 ↗
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