Colorado DMV Permit Practice Test 25

  • Questions25
  • Correct to pass20
  • Passing score80%
  • Minimum age15 years

25 questions. Pick an answer to see if it is right and why; you need 20 correct answers to pass.

  1. 1. What are front fog lights for?

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    Answer D: Adding a low, wide beam close to the car when visibility is poor

    Fog lights throw a low, wide beam under the fog, which is why they are mounted low and are used only in poor visibility.

  2. 2. What most often starts a rear wheel skid?

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    Answer A: Too much speed, braking or acceleration for the grip available

    A skid begins when what you ask of the tires exceeds what the surface can give, which is usually a matter of speed and of how abruptly you use the controls.

  3. 3. It is cold and the road looks wet, but you notice the tires of vehicles ahead are throwing up no spray. What does this suggest?

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    Answer B: The surface has frozen and is probably icy

    Water throws spray, but ice does not. A shiny road with no spray in freezing temperatures is a strong sign of black ice, so slow down and avoid sudden inputs.

  4. 4. You are traveling beside a solid white lane line. What does it tell you?

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    Answer B: Crossing it is discouraged or prohibited, so stay in your lane

    A solid white line separates lanes going the same direction where lane changing is discouraged or prohibited, such as where a through lane meets a mandatory turn lane.

  5. 5. Your light turns green and a driver on the cross street enters against a red. What should you do?

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    Answer D: Hold back and let that vehicle go through

    Giving up a right of way you are entitled to is the only way to avoid a crash with a driver who has already failed to yield.

  6. 6. How can you tell a tire has reached its wear limit without measuring it?

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    Answer C: The wear bars across the grooves become level with the tread

    Molded bars sit at the bottom of the grooves. Once the surrounding tread has worn down to them, the tire has reached the end of its safe life.

  7. 7. School warning signs use which background and legend colors?

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    Answer A: A black legend and border on a fluorescent yellow-green background

    School warning signs carry a black legend and border on a fluorescent yellow-green background, a shade chosen so they stand out from ordinary yellow warning signs.

  8. 8. A wheel comes off your car while you are driving. What should you do?

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    Answer A: Hold the wheel firmly, ease off the gas and steer gently to the shoulder

    A firm grip and a gradual slowing keep the vehicle straight, while hard or sudden braking makes a damaged corner pull the car out of line.

  9. 9. You are approaching a highway-rail grade crossing marked only with a crossbuck sign. What does that sign require?

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    Answer A: Yield to any approaching train and cross only when the tracks are clear

    The crossbuck is a regulatory yield sign, and a train can never stop or steer around a vehicle, so the driver must always give way.

  10. 10. Which common non-prescription medicine is most likely to make a driver drowsy?

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    Answer C: A cold or allergy remedy containing an antihistamine

    Antihistamines in cold and allergy remedies are a leading cause of drowsiness behind the wheel, which is why the label carries a warning.

  11. 11. What does a traction control system do?

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    Answer A: It limits wheel spin when you accelerate

    Traction control cuts power or brakes a spinning wheel so the tires can grip when you pull away or accelerate on a slippery surface.

  12. 12. May you park across the entrance to a fire station?

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    Answer D: No, an emergency exit must never be blocked

    Emergency vehicles must be able to leave the moment a call comes in, so their entrances and exits are kept clear at all hours.

  13. 13. Where is the safest place for children under 13 to ride?

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    Answer C: In the back seat

    The back seat keeps children away from the force of a deploying front air bag and is farther from the most common impact area, which is why it is recommended through at least age 12.

  14. 14. The cars in front of and behind your parallel parked car have left you very little room. How do you get out?

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    Answer D: Ease back and forth, turning the wheels each way, until you clear

    Short movements with the wheels turned first one way and then the other walk the car out of a tight space without touching anything.

  15. 15. The sign over the leftmost lane reads LEFT LANE MUST TURN LEFT. You are in that lane and want to go straight. What should you do?

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    Answer C: Move out of the lane before the intersection if it is safe

    A mandatory movement lane control sign makes the turn compulsory for that lane, so a driver who wants another movement must change lanes in advance.

  16. 16. Colorado law requires drivers in a roundabout to yield the right of way to which vehicles?

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    Answer D: Trucks, buses, emergency vehicles and recreational vehicles

    Colorado requires drivers to yield to the driver of a truck, bus, emergency vehicle or recreational vehicle entering, exiting or driving in a roundabout.

  17. 17. You realize you have turned the wrong way onto a one-way street. What should you do?

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    Answer A: Pull to the right, stop, and back into the street you came from when clear

    Get out of the traffic stream first: pull right and stop, then back out into the street you came from once you can see it is safe.

  18. 18. Where among these is parking specifically prohibited?

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    Answer A: On a bridge, in a tunnel or on railroad tracks

    Bridges and tunnels have no safe refuge and cannot be widened, and a vehicle left on railroad tracks cannot be avoided by an approaching train.

  19. 19. Why does the speed of the right-hand lane of a freeway change so often?

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    Answer B: Vehicles entering and leaving the highway all use that lane

    Entrance and exit ramps feed into the right lane, so traffic there is constantly slowing to leave or speeding up to join.

  20. 20. You see a shield for a three-digit Interstate whose first digit is even. What does that tell you about the route?

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    Answer C: It loops around a city and rejoins its parent route

    A three-digit Interstate beginning with an even digit is a loop or beltway that connects back to the main route at both ends, while an odd first digit marks a spur.

  21. 21. You realize your tires are running on ice. Which set of inputs is safest?

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    Answer C: Gentle steering, no sudden braking, and no sudden acceleration

    Whatever grip is left is used up at once by any sudden input, so every movement of wheel, brake and accelerator must be slow and small.

  22. 22. You are parking facing downhill on a street with a curb. Which way should the front wheels point?

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    Answer A: Toward the curb, so the vehicle would roll into it if it moved

    Turning the wheels toward the curb when facing downhill means a vehicle that starts to roll is stopped by the curb instead of entering the traffic lane.

  23. 23. A white arrow painted in your lane points only to the right, and a sign above the lane shows the same movement. What must you do?

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    Answer C: Turn right from that lane

    Pavement arrows used with lane-use signs are regulatory, so a driver occupying that lane must make the movement shown.

  24. 24. An orange sign reading END ROAD WORK is posted beside the highway. What does it mark?

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    Answer C: The point where the work zone restrictions stop

    The sign is installed at the downstream end of the temporary traffic control zone to tell drivers that normal conditions apply again.

  25. 25. Your vehicle stalls on railroad tracks and you see a train approaching. What should you do?

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    Answer D: Get everyone out and run toward the train at an angle away from the tracks

    Leave the vehicle at once. Running toward the oncoming train and away from the tracks keeps you clear of the wreckage, which is thrown forward in the direction the train is moving.