Final answer:
Truck escape ramps are designed to help avoid damage to vehicles by providing a controlled deceleration zone for trucks that have lost braking power on steep grades. They are meant to be used in scenarios where brakes fail and are suitable for various types of heavy vehicles, not just specific ones.
Step-by-step explanation:
Truck escape ramps are emergency safety measures found on steep downgrades of highways. Their primary function is to provide a safe stopping area for vehicles, especially large and heavy ones like semis, that have lost braking control while descending. Answering the student's question, truck escape ramps are designed to help avoid damage to vehicles by slowing them down using materials such as loose gravel that create resistance against the wheels. The statement that these ramps shouldn't be used if brakes fail is incorrect; in fact, they are explicitly meant for such scenarios. Additionally, there is no restriction on the types of heavy vehicles that can use these ramps; they are designed to be used by all sizes of trucks and heavy vehicles. Therefore, the correct answer is 1) help avoid damage to vehicles. As for a method to determine the effectiveness of these ramps, one could design an experiment that measures the stopping distance of a truck entering the ramp at known speeds and weights, comparing the results against the stopping distances provided by the manufacturer's design specifications.