District of Columbia DC DMV Permit Practice Test 35
- Questions25
- Correct to pass20
- Passing score80%
- Minimum age16 years
-
1. Federal law lets a state open its high-occupancy vehicle lanes to certain vehicles carrying only one person. Which of these is covered by that allowance?
Show answer
Answer B: Motorcycles
Federal law lets states allow motorcycles into high-occupancy vehicle lanes regardless of the number of occupants, because keeping riders in the flow is safer than the alternative.
-
2. What does a tire with worn tread do on a wet road?
Show answer
Answer B: It loses grip and it hydroplanes at a lower speed than a good tire
Tread grooves carry water away from the contact patch, and a worn tire cannot do that, so it floats on the water sooner.
-
3. You are stopped in traffic at a red light when an ambulance comes up behind you with its siren on. What is the correct action?
Show answer
Answer D: Stay put until you can move aside legally and safely
You must not run a red light or make an unsafe move to yield; wait, then pull to the side once the way ahead lets you do it safely.
-
4. Your low beams light about 250 feet of road, but at your speed you would need more than that to stop. What is that called?
Show answer
Answer D: Overdriving your headlights
When your stopping distance is longer than the stretch of road your headlights show, you cannot react to anything you finally see. Slow down until you can.
-
5. A driver passes this sign and the signal beyond it is already showing green. What is the safest response?
Show answer
Answer C: Ease off the accelerator and be ready to stop, because an indication that has been showing for a while is about to change
A signal that has been displaying the same indication for some time is close to changing, so arriving at a controlled speed with the brake covered is safer than accelerating to beat it.
-
6. An overhead lane signal shows a flashing yellow X above your lane. What does it mean?
Show answer
Answer D: The lane may be used only for a left turn
A flashing yellow X marks a lane that may be used only to make a left turn; a steady yellow X is the one that warns you to leave the lane.
-
7. What does a steady yellow traffic light tell the driver facing it?
Show answer
Answer A: The green movement is ending and a red indication is about to appear
A steady yellow warns that the related green movement is being terminated and that red will follow, so you should stop if you can do so safely.
-
8. How can a first-time DC handheld phone offender have the fine suspended?
Show answer
Answer B: By showing proof that a hands-free accessory has been bought before the fine is imposed
DC suspends the fine for a first-time violator who provides proof of acquiring a hands-free accessory after the violation but before the fine is imposed; the relief does not extend to texting.
-
9. You park in your own driveway and the rear of the vehicle sticks out over the sidewalk. What is wrong with that?
Show answer
Answer C: It blocks the sidewalk and forces people into the street
A vehicle overhanging the sidewalk pushes pedestrians, wheelchair users and strollers into the roadway, and blocking a sidewalk is prohibited.
-
10. Traffic has built up behind you while you wait for a gap to turn left. How should that affect your decision?
Show answer
Answer C: It should not change it; wait for a gap that is genuinely safe
Pressure from behind does not make a small gap bigger, and rushing a left turn across traffic is a common cause of serious crashes.
-
11. You arrive at a four-way stop after two other vehicles have already stopped there. When is it your turn?
Show answer
Answer A: After both of the earlier vehicles have gone
Vehicles clear a four-way stop in the order they arrived, so the third driver to stop is the third to go.
-
12. When are the hazard warning lights properly used?
Show answer
Answer A: When your vehicle is stopped or barely moving and is a hazard
Hazard lights warn that your vehicle is an obstruction; they do not authorize illegal parking and they hide your turn signals while driving.
-
13. A deer suddenly steps onto the road ahead of you at night. What is the safest response?
Show answer
Answer C: Brake firmly and stay in your lane rather than swerving
Swerving at speed often leads to a rollover or a head-on crash that is far worse than hitting the animal. Brake hard, hold your lane and expect more deer to follow.
-
14. You notice that the driver ahead of you is holding a phone to the ear. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer C: Assume slower reactions and leave extra space, or else hold back
A driver on the phone reacts late and misses things, so the safe response is distance rather than a lesson.
-
15. A signal beside a fire station stays dark until apparatus is about to leave, when it shows yellow and then red. What must a driver do?
Show answer
Answer B: Stop on the red and wait until the signal goes dark again
An emergency vehicle signal is a real traffic signal, so its red indication must be obeyed while the apparatus pulls out into the street.
-
16. Where is the no passing zone pennant sign installed?
Show answer
Answer A: On the left side of the roadway
The pennant is placed on the left side of the roadway at the beginning of the no-passing zone, in the field of view of a driver who is thinking about overtaking.
-
17. A turn restriction sign at the corner shows a range of times below the symbol. What does that mean?
Show answer
Answer A: The turn is banned only during the hours shown on the sign
Times posted under a regulatory symbol set the period during which the restriction applies; outside those hours the movement is permitted.
-
18. Two roads come together at a shallow angle under a MERGE sign, with no yield line on either one. What is expected of you?
Show answer
Answer D: Adjust your speed and position so you blend smoothly into the other traffic
A merge means neither road ends at a stop; drivers adjust speed and position so that the two streams fit together without stopping.
-
19. What happens when alcohol is combined with another drug that also affects the nervous system?
Show answer
Answer B: Impairment is often far greater than either one alone would produce
Combined substances can multiply each other's effects, producing impairment well beyond what a driver would expect from either one taken separately.
-
20. A lane along the right edge is set off by a solid white line and marked with a bicycle symbol. How should a driver treat it?
Show answer
Answer B: Stay out of it except for the short distance needed to turn or cross where that is allowed
A marked bicycle lane is set aside for bicycle traffic, and motor vehicles may enter it only briefly where turning or crossing is permitted.
-
21. You reach a stretch of road covered by moving flood water of unknown depth. What is the correct decision?
Show answer
Answer D: Turn around and take another route
About a foot of moving water is enough to carry away most cars, and the roadbed under the water may already be washed out, so the only safe choice is to turn around.
-
22. You are in a minor collision on a busy road. No one is hurt and both vehicles can be driven. What is the recommended thing to do?
Show answer
Answer C: Move the vehicles out of the travel lanes to a safe spot before exchanging information
Vehicles left in traffic after a minor crash invite a second, often worse, collision. Clearing the lane protects everyone, and you still exchange details and report as required.
-
23. You are turning left at an intersection and an oncoming bicyclist is approaching in the bike lane. What must you do?
Show answer
Answer B: Yield and complete the turn only after the bicyclist has passed
A bicycle in the roadway has the same right of way as a vehicle, so a left-turning driver must yield to an oncoming rider just as to an oncoming car.
-
24. Someone stops drinking heavily at two in the morning and drives to work at eight. What is true?
Show answer
Answer A: They may still be impaired and over the limit
The body removes alcohol at a slow, fixed rate, so a heavy night can leave a driver impaired well into the next morning no matter how they feel.
-
25. Driving at night you notice that the raised markers along the line beside you are throwing back red light. What does that tell you?
Show answer
Answer C: You are facing traffic and must get off that roadway
Red retroreflection is shown only toward traffic that should not be there, so a red return means the vehicle is heading the wrong way.