---
title: "A car is traveling at a constant speed along a flat, horizontal road when it begins to make a sharp turn to the left. A passenger in the car, who is not wearing a seatbelt, starts to move toward the door on the right side of the car. Which of the following best explains this observation from the perspective of an observer standing on the sidewalk?"
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url: "https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/114471/"
date_modified: "2026-07-03T04:36:50+00:00"
---

# A car is traveling at a constant speed along a flat, horizontal road when it begins to make a sharp turn to the left. A passenger in the car, who is not wearing a seatbelt, starts to move toward the door on the right side of the car. Which of the following best explains this observation from the perspective of an observer standing on the sidewalk?

A car is traveling at a constant speed along a flat, horizontal road when it begins to make a sharp turn to the left. A passenger in the car, who is not wearing a seatbelt, starts to move toward the door on the right side of the car. Which of the following best explains this observation from the perspective of an observer standing on the sidewalk?

![An overhead view showing a car moving along a circular path turning to the left (counter-clockwise). A dotted line extends from the car's original position, showing a straight-line path tangent to the circle. Inside the car, a small square represents the passenger. Arrows show the car's velocity vector pointing along the curve and an acceleration vector pointing toward the center of the circle on the left.](https://nerd-notes.com/wp-content/uploads/ubq-frq-generated/stem-fig-1-1783053410-d4aEFs.jpg)

- **A.** The passenger moves toward the right side because a centrifugal force directed away from the center of the turn acts on the passenger.
- **B.** The passenger moves toward the right side because the passenger's inertia maintains their motion in a straight line while the car accelerates toward the left.
- **C.** The passenger moves toward the right side because the car's centripetal acceleration creates an equal and opposite reaction force on the passenger.
- **D.** The passenger moves toward the right side because the friction force between the passenger and the seat is directed toward the right.

*The answer key and step-by-step explanation are available to logged-in users at https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/114471/*