District of Columbia DC DMV Permit Practice Test 23
- Questions25
- Correct to pass20
- Passing score80%
- Minimum age16 years
-
1. May you park in front of a public or private driveway?
Show answer
Answer A: No, blocking a driveway is prohibited even for a short time
Parking in front of a driveway blocks the property owner from entering or leaving, and the prohibition does not depend on how long you stay.
-
2. Why is parking next to a fire hydrant or in a marked fire lane prohibited?
Show answer
Answer D: It would delay firefighters who need immediate access to the hydrant or the building
Fire hydrants and fire lanes must remain clear at all times so emergency crews can connect hoses and reach a building without delay.
-
3. What happens to a DC vehicle registration or reciprocity sticker when the insurance lapses?
Show answer
Answer B: It is suspended
When insurance lapses, DC DMV suspends the vehicle registration or reciprocity sticker and assesses fines that increase over time.
-
4. A single solid white line separates two lanes running in the same direction. What is it telling drivers?
Show answer
Answer A: Changing lanes there is discouraged
A solid white lane line discourages lane changing, typically where merging or weaving would create a hazard.
-
5. A driver disregards this sign and turns so as to travel against the direction it establishes. What is the immediate danger?
Show answer
Answer D: The driver will face traffic head on, because every lane comes the other way
Turning against the established direction puts the vehicle nose to nose with all the traffic on that street, which is why the mistake has to be corrected at once.
-
6. The vehicle you want to pass is traveling close to the speed limit. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer C: Stay behind, because a pass may not take you over the limit
The speed limit applies while passing too. If you cannot complete the pass without exceeding it, do not start the pass.
-
7. Visibility drops suddenly and you decide to leave the highway. What is the safest way to do it?
Show answer
Answer A: Take the next exit or a wide pull off, well clear of the traffic lanes
Get right off the traveled way, and off the shoulder too if you can, because vehicles in poor visibility often drift onto the shoulder.
-
8. You reach a one-lane bridge and a vehicle is already partway across it coming toward you. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer D: Stop before the bridge and let it come through
A vehicle already on a one-lane bridge has the right of way, and the driver who has not yet entered waits at the approach.
-
9. What does DC law count as aggressive driving?
Show answer
Answer D: Committing 3 or more listed violations during a single continuous period of driving within one mile
DC defines aggressive driving as violating 3 or more of the listed provisions at the same time or during a single continuous period of driving within the course of one mile.
-
10. How close may a DC driver follow fire apparatus responding to an alarm?
Show answer
Answer B: No closer than 500 feet
DC regulations make it an infraction to follow fire apparatus within 500 feet.
-
11. You are joining a highway from a short ramp that has no acceleration lane. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer A: Stop or slow at the end of the ramp and wait for a safe gap
Without an acceleration lane there is no room to match speed, so you must yield at the end of the ramp and enter only when a gap allows it.
-
12. A city transit bus ahead of you has stopped at the curb with its passenger door open. What does the law require of you?
Show answer
Answer D: Nothing special, but pass slowly and watch for people
The mandatory stop applies to a school bus showing red flashing lights, not to a transit bus, though a careful driver still slows for crossing passengers.
-
13. A stop line is painted across the pavement at this sign. Where must the vehicle come to rest?
Show answer
Answer A: Behind the stop line, with no part of the vehicle across it
The vehicle must halt behind the stop line; where no line is painted the driver stops before the crosswalk, and where there is neither, before entering the intersection.
-
14. Smoke from a nearby fire is drifting across the highway. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer C: Slow down, use low beams, and close the windows and vents
Smoke cuts visibility like fog and can make your eyes water. Low beams, a much lower speed and closed vents protect both your view and the air in the car.
-
15. Do hazard lights make it legal to leave your vehicle in a no parking zone?
Show answer
Answer A: No, they warn other drivers but do not permit the parking
Hazard lights are a warning device, not a permit; the parking restriction applies whether they are flashing or not.
-
16. Why should you stay out of an intersection you cannot clear, even on a green light?
Show answer
Answer B: Because you would block cross traffic when their signal turns green
A vehicle stranded in the intersection blocks the cross street when its light turns green, which stalls the whole junction and traps emergency vehicles.
-
17. A driver who has been drinking has two cups of strong coffee. What has changed?
Show answer
Answer D: The driver is more awake but just as impaired
Coffee can make a drinker feel alert, but nothing except time removes alcohol from the blood, so a wide awake drinker is still an impaired driver.
-
18. You are traveling at 55 mph and see a vehicle ahead moving at about 15 mph. What is the hazard?
Show answer
Answer A: You reach it far sooner than you expect
At a 40 mph difference you cover the gap in a few seconds, which is why drivers strike slow vehicles they saw in plenty of time.
-
19. Which vehicles may a DC full license with conditions holder under 18 drive?
Show answer
Answer A: Passenger cars and motorized bicycles, for personal use
The DC conditions limit a holder under 18 to driving passenger cars or motorized bicycles for personal use.
-
20. A steady green arrow pointing left is displayed for your turning lane. What does it tell you?
Show answer
Answer D: The turn is protected because conflicting traffic is being held
A steady green arrow gives a protected movement in the direction shown, although you still yield to pedestrians and to any vehicle already inside the intersection.
-
21. Your brake pedal sinks to the floor and the vehicle does not slow down. What is a reasonable sequence of actions?
Show answer
Answer C: Pump the pedal, shift to a lower gear and apply the parking brake gradually while steering to a safe spot
Pumping can rebuild pressure in a partly failed system, a lower gear adds engine braking, and easing on the parking brake slows the vehicle without locking the wheels.
-
22. You are waiting to turn left and an oncoming vehicle stopped in the near lane to turn left blocks your view of the far lane. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer A: Wait where you are until you can see that the far lane is completely clear
The lane you cannot see is where the crash comes from, so you hold your position until the view opens up.
-
23. On a street with parking along the curb, the shared lane marking is painted well out from the curb face. What does that placement tell a bicyclist?
Show answer
Answer C: To ride clear of the doors of parked cars
The marking is set at least eleven feet from the curb where parking is allowed so that riders are guided outside the reach of an opening door.
-
24. At a freeway exit ramp, this sign normally backs up which other regulatory sign posted nearer to the ramp terminal?
Show answer
Answer D: The sign that forbids entering that roadway at all
The two work as a pair at ramp terminals: one keeps drivers from turning in, and this one sits farther along to catch a driver who has already entered.
-
25. A steady green downward arrow is displayed above the lane you are in. What does it tell you?
Show answer
Answer A: You may drive in that lane
A green downward arrow means the lane beneath it is open for travel in your direction.