Pennsylvania Driver License: Space, Speed, Weather and Passing

28 questions with the correct answer and an explanation for each. Topic: Space, Speed, Weather and Passing. Free, no account needed.

1. A driver has held a license for about two years. Based on crash data, which group of drivers is most likely to be at fault in a crash?

Drivers with over 20 years of experience
Drivers with five to ten years of experience
Drivers with ten to twenty years of experience
Drivers with under five years of experience

Answer: D — Drivers with under five years of experience

Drivers with under five years of experience err most often, so a two-year driver falls in the highest-risk group.

2. Which factor is the single most common contributing cause in crashes involving 16- and 17-year-old drivers?

Improper turning
Distraction
Driving too fast for conditions
Tailgating

Answer: C — Driving too fast for conditions

Driving too fast for conditions is listed as the number one reason for crashes among 16- and 17-year-olds.

3. You are following another vehicle on dry pavement and want enough distance to be able to steer or brake around a sudden hazard. What following distance should you keep?

Three seconds
Four seconds
Six seconds
Two seconds

Answer: B — Four seconds

A four-second following distance on dry pavement gives enough time to steer or brake around a hazard.

4. While driving, you realize you have only about six feet of escape space to one side because of parked cars. What should you do to compensate?

Lengthen your following distance
Ignore it, since six feet is enough space
Move closer to the vehicle ahead
Speed up to clear the area quickly

Answer: A — Lengthen your following distance

With less than eight feet of escape space on one side, you should lengthen your following distance instead.

5. Another driver is following too closely behind you and you cannot change lanes right away. What should you do to encourage them to pass?

Flash your brake lights repeatedly without slowing
Brake hard to warn them
Speed up until they back off
Tap the brakes gently on a clear stretch of road

Answer: D — Tap the brakes gently on a clear stretch of road

When tailgated, wait for a clear road and tap the brakes gently to slow and let the tailgater pass.

6. Your mirrors show no vehicles nearby as you prepare to change lanes. What else should you do before moving over?

Sound the horn as a warning
Nothing, mirrors are sufficient
Turn your head to check the blind spots at the rear corners
Flash your headlights

Answer: C — Turn your head to check the blind spots at the rear corners

The rear corners are blind spots, so you must turn your head to check them before every lane change.

7. Driving on the highway, about how far ahead should you be scanning to spot developing hazards in time to react?

About five miles
One car length
About one mile
About a quarter mile

Answer: D — About a quarter mile

Drivers should identify problems 12 to 15 seconds ahead, about a quarter mile at highway speed.

8. Approaching an intersection where parked cars partly block your view, in what order should you look before pulling out?

Right, then left, then right
Straight ahead only, then proceed
Left only, since that traffic matters most
Left, then right, then left again

Answer: D — Left, then right, then left again

The left-right-left rule has you look left first because that traffic is closer, then right, then left again before pulling out.

9. What is the statewide maximum speed limit?

75 mph
65 mph
70 mph
55 mph

Answer: C — 70 mph

The statewide maximum speed limit is 70 mph.

10. Driving past a school where the lights are flashing, what speed limit applies?

15 mph
20 mph
10 mph
25 mph

Answer: A — 15 mph

School zones have a 15 mph limit when the lights flash or during posted times.

11. Which of these driving habits reduces fuel use?

Using cruise control on flat highway stretches
Letting the engine warm up for several minutes before driving off
Driving 70 mph instead of 60 mph on the open highway
Making rapid starts from a stop to get up to speed sooner

Answer: A — Using cruise control on flat highway stretches

Cruise control on flat highways saves about 7 percent. Rapid starts and hard stops raise fuel use by 40 percent, warming up takes only 30 seconds, and fuel use rises about 5 percent for every 5 mph over 60.

12. Compared with daytime, the fatality rate for crashes at night is about how much higher?

About the same
Ten times higher
Roughly one and a half times higher
Three to four times higher

Answer: D — Three to four times higher

Night driving brings three to four times the fatality rate of daytime driving.

13. At night, headlights are required once you cannot clearly see a person or vehicle how far ahead?

2,000 feet
500 feet
1,000 feet
1,500 feet

Answer: C — 1,000 feet

Headlights are required when you cannot see people or vehicles 1,000 feet ahead.

14. An oncoming vehicle is approaching you at night. At what distance should you switch from high beams to low beams?

500 feet
300 feet
100 feet
1,000 feet

Answer: A — 500 feet

Low beams should be used within 500 feet of an oncoming vehicle.

15. Driving at night on an unlit road using low beams, which top speed keeps your stopping distance within your headlights' reach?

45 mph
55 mph
35 mph
65 mph

Answer: A — 45 mph

Since low beams reach about 250 feet and stopping from 55 mph takes more than that, a dark road calls for 45 mph or less.

16. At what speed can a vehicle begin hydroplaning in as little as a tenth of an inch of water on the road?

50 mph
20 mph
35 mph
65 mph

Answer: C — 35 mph

Hydroplaning is possible at only 35 mph in a tenth of an inch of water.

17. As temperatures drop toward freezing, a road surface looks wet but no spray comes off other vehicles' tires. What does this indicate?

Hydroplaning conditions
Black ice
A snow squall
Normal wet pavement

Answer: B — Black ice

Black ice forms on clear roads as temperatures drop, looking wet with no spray from other tires.

18. Caught driving in dense fog, which instrument should you check because fog hides your sense of speed?

The fuel gauge
The speedometer
The temperature gauge
The tachometer

Answer: B — The speedometer

You should check the speedometer since fog hides your sense of speed.

19. While driving on an interstate in otherwise clear weather, visibility suddenly drops to near zero. What should you do?

Speed up to clear the area
Slow down gradually and turn on hazard lights
Turn on high beams
Brake hard immediately

Answer: B — Slow down gradually and turn on hazard lights

If caught in a snow squall, slow gradually with hazard lights on and never slam the brakes.

20. You are approaching a police car stopped on the shoulder with emergency lights on, and you cannot move into a non-adjacent lane. What should you do?

Maintain your current speed
Slow to at least 20 mph below the posted limit
Come to a complete stop
Speed up to pass quickly

Answer: B — Slow to at least 20 mph below the posted limit

If you cannot move to a non-adjacent lane, slow to at least 20 mph below the limit.

21. You come up behind a farm tractor displaying an orange triangle. What should you do?

Flash your high beams repeatedly
Honk to signal you want to pass
Tailgate closely until it pulls over
Stay back and do not honk

Answer: D — Stay back and do not honk

Vehicles built for 25 mph or less carry the orange triangle; stay back and do not honk to pass.

22. You plan to turn at an intersection while driving 45 mph. About how far before the turn should you signal?

100 feet
200 feet
300 feet
500 feet

Answer: C — 300 feet

At 35 mph or more, signal at least 300 feet before the turn.

23. Your brake lights have failed and you need to signal that you are slowing to a stop using hand signals. What is the correct arm position?

Arm bent downward
Arm waved side to side
Arm straight out
Arm bent upward

Answer: A — Arm bent downward

The hand signal for slowing or stopping is the left arm bent downward.

24. What pavement markings identify a center turn lane that can be used by traffic from either direction to start a left turn?

Broken outer line, solid inner line
Solid outer line, broken inner line
Double solid yellow lines
Broken lines on both sides

Answer: B — Solid outer line, broken inner line

Center turn lanes have a solid outer line and a broken inner line.

25. You want to make a U-turn on a straight, level stretch of road with no NO U-TURN sign in sight. How far away must every approaching driver be, and able to see you, for the turn to be legal?

1,000 feet
100 feet
500 feet
300 feet

Answer: C — 500 feet

U-turns require every driver from every direction to be at least 500 feet away and able to see you.

26. After passing a vehicle on a two-lane road, when is it safe to move back into your original lane?

As soon as you finish signaling
Immediately after your front bumper clears its bumper
After about 10 seconds
When you can see both headlights of the passed vehicle in your rearview mirror

Answer: D — When you can see both headlights of the passed vehicle in your rearview mirror

You should move back only when you can see both headlights of the passed vehicle in your rearview mirror.

27. The vehicle ahead of you is signaling and slowing to make a left turn on a two-lane road. May you legally pass it on the right?

Yes, this is one of the situations where passing on the right is allowed
Only if you use the shoulder
No, passing on the right is never legal
Only at night

Answer: A — Yes, this is one of the situations where passing on the right is allowed

Passing on the right is allowed when the vehicle ahead is making or signaling a left turn.

28. You are on a two-lane road approaching a hill crest that hides oncoming traffic. What does the law allow?

You may pass if the oncoming lane looks clear
You may pass if you are going 10 mph faster
You may pass if you signal early
You may not pass on or approaching the crest

Answer: D — You may not pass on or approaching the crest

Passing is not allowed on or approaching a curve or hill crest that hides oncoming traffic.