Colorado DMV Permit Practice Test 48
- Questions25
- Correct to pass20
- Passing score80%
- Minimum age15 years
-
1. The vehicle you have borrowed is larger and heavier than your own. How should you drive it?
Show answer
Answer B: Allow more room for stopping and for turns until you are used to it
Extra weight and length mean longer stopping distances and wider turns, so give yourself more room until you are used to it.
-
2. How may a two-way left-turn lane never be used?
Show answer
Answer B: As a through travel lane or a passing lane
The lane exists only for turning movements, so traveling or passing along it puts you head-on with vehicles turning from the opposite direction.
-
3. Why would this sign be installed on an approach?
Show answer
Answer B: Because the signal cannot be seen from far enough back for a driver to react in time
Advance notice of a signal is used where a crest, a curve, trees or a building keep the signal heads out of view until a driver is already too close to stop comfortably.
-
4. A sign with a black legend on a fluorescent pink background is used for
Show answer
Answer A: traffic incident management
Fluorescent pink is set aside for signing that manages traffic around a crash, a spill or another unplanned incident, so it stands apart from routine work zone orange.
-
5. You arrive at an intersection where the traffic signals are completely dark after a power failure. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer A: Treat the intersection as an all-way stop and take turns
When a signal is dark or out of order, drivers on every approach must stop and proceed in turn, exactly as at a four-way stop.
-
6. Your vehicle does not have antilock brakes and you must stop quickly on a slippery road. What is the correct technique?
Show answer
Answer B: Apply the brakes firmly without locking the wheels, releasing slightly if they lock
Locked wheels slide and cannot steer. Squeezing the brakes to just short of lockup, and easing off if they lock, gives the shortest stop with control.
-
7. What is the safest way to leave a perpendicular parking space in a busy lot?
Show answer
Answer B: Back out slowly, checking both ways and yielding
Backing out gives you the poorest view of any maneuver, so it must be done slowly, with checks in both directions and with yielding to whoever is already there.
-
8. You want to pass on a two-lane road where several people are walking on the narrow shoulder ahead. What should you consider?
Show answer
Answer D: There is no escape room if the pass goes wrong, so wait for a better place
A pass depends on having somewhere to go if it goes wrong, and a shoulder occupied by pedestrians removes that option for both vehicles.
-
9. About how far behind a tractor-trailer does the driver's rear blind spot reach?
Show answer
Answer C: Around 30 feet
The area behind a large truck is hidden for roughly 30 feet, so a driver tucked in there cannot be seen at all.
-
10. How should a long trip be broken up to keep the driver alert?
Show answer
Answer D: Stop for a break every couple of hours and share out the driving
Regular breaks and a change of driver are the only reliable answers to fatigue; caffeine only postpones it.
-
11. When a Colorado driver under 18 carries passengers, what does the law say about seating?
Show answer
Answer D: Only one passenger may ride in the front seat
Colorado permits only one passenger in the front seat of a vehicle driven by someone under 18, and there may be no more passengers in the back than there are seat belts.
-
12. In a Colorado work zone covered by the state's automated speed enforcement program, by how much must a driver exceed the posted limit before a civil penalty is issued?
Show answer
Answer C: By 10 mph or more
The Colorado Speed Enforcement Program issues a civil penalty to drivers exceeding the posted work zone speed limit by 10 mph or more, based on average speed measured between two cameras.
-
13. A curb lane is marked BUS ONLY 7 AM TO 9 AM. What may the driver of a car do?
Show answer
Answer A: Use the lane outside those hours
A part-time bus lane is reserved only during the posted period, and outside it the lane serves general traffic like any other.
-
14. You approach a one-lane bridge and there is a yield sign facing your side of it. What does that mean?
Show answer
Answer B: Oncoming traffic crosses the bridge first and you wait at the approach
At a one-lane bridge the yield sign tells one direction to give way, so you wait clear of the bridge until oncoming traffic has crossed.
-
15. Which color scheme is standard for the drums and barricades that channel traffic through a work zone?
Show answer
Answer C: Alternating orange and white retroreflective stripes
Drums and barricades carry alternating orange and white retroreflective stripes, and the traffic cones used in the same zones are predominantly orange.
-
16. What does this sign tell a driver about the road ahead?
Show answer
Answer A: The roadway changes direction ahead, so speed should be reduced before reaching it
It gives advance notice of a change in alignment so the driver can slow down before entering, since braking inside a bend uses up grip that is needed for steering.
-
17. You are following another vehicle down a long, steep grade. What should you do about the gap?
Show answer
Answer D: Make it longer, because both of you need more room to stop
Everything takes longer to stop on a downgrade, including the vehicle ahead, so the gap that works on the flat is no longer enough.
-
18. Two left-turn lanes are marked at the intersection and you are in the left one. What must you do?
Show answer
Answer A: Stay in your own lane all the way around the turn
With dual turn lanes each driver must hold a lane through the whole turn and come out in the matching lane of the new street.
-
19. 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.
-
20. An overhead lane-use control signal shows a steady red X above your lane. What does it mean?
Show answer
Answer B: You may not use that lane and must move out of it
A steady red X means the lane below it is closed to you, while a steady yellow X is the warning to prepare to vacate the lane and a downward green arrow means the lane is open.
-
21. Why are motorcycles so often missed by other drivers?
Show answer
Answer C: Their narrow shape is easily hidden in traffic
A motorcycle presents a narrow outline that disappears behind pillars, mirrors and other vehicles, and it is harder to judge its speed and distance.
-
22. How close to a fire hydrant may you park in Colorado?
Show answer
Answer B: No closer than 15 feet
The Colorado Driver Handbook prohibits parking within 15 feet of a fire hydrant, and within 30 feet of a traffic signal, stop sign or railroad crossing.
-
23. A diamond-shaped sign is used to
Show answer
Answer A: warn of a condition on or next to the road that may call for caution
The diamond is the standard shape of the warning series, which alerts drivers to conditions that would otherwise not be obvious in time to react.
-
24. Is dictating a message by voice a safe alternative to typing one?
Show answer
Answer C: No, it still takes attention from driving
Composing and checking a spoken message loads the mind and usually pulls the eyes to the screen anyway, so research finds it no safer than other phone use.
-
25. What injury does a correctly set head restraint help prevent?
Show answer
Answer A: A neck injury of the kind caused when your vehicle is struck from behind
In a rear impact the body is pushed forward and the head restraint stops the head from whipping backward.