What is the correct procedure after moving your foot from the brake to the accelerator?

After moving your foot from the brake to the accelerator, the correct procedure is to recheck traffic. This step is crucial for ensuring safety and awareness on the road. By checking traffic conditions, you can assess your surroundings, including the actions of other vehicles and pedestrians, ensuring that it is safe to proceed.

Rechecking traffic allows you to make informed driving decisions, such as determining whether it is safe to merge, change lanes, or accelerate. This habit is a key component of defensive driving, helping to prevent accidents by increasing your awareness of potential hazards.

The other options, while they have their own significance in various driving situations, are not directly relevant to the immediate action of moving from the brake to the accelerator. For instance, releasing the parking brake would typically occur before you even consider accelerating, moving to the proper lane is a separate maneuver based on traffic conditions, and changing to a lower gear applies to situations requiring engine braking, rather than accelerating from a stop. Thus, rechecking traffic is the most critical and appropriate next step.