Alaska DMV Permit Practice Test 48

  • Questions20
  • Correct to pass16
  • Passing score80%
  • Minimum age14 years

20 questions. Pick an answer to see if it is right and why; you need 16 correct answers to pass.

  1. 1. A square sign with a red field, a wide white horizontal bar and the words DO NOT ENTER tells a driver that

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    Answer B: the roadway ahead must not be entered from that point

    The do not enter sign is posted at the end of a one-way roadway or ramp to keep traffic from driving into it against the flow.

  2. 2. Why should your thumbs rest along the rim rather than hook inside the spokes?

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    Answer D: A jolt can spin the wheel and injure hooked thumbs

    A pothole or a dropped wheel can snap the wheel round violently, and thumbs hooked through the spokes are trapped when it happens.

  3. 3. What is the right speed for a normal right turn at a city corner?

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    Answer C: Slow enough to hold your lane and stop for a pedestrian

    A city right turn is tight and crosses a crosswalk, so the correct speed is one that keeps you inside your lane and still allows a stop.

  4. 4. At a freeway exit, the paved triangle between the ramp and the through lanes is filled with diagonal white lines. What do they mean?

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    Answer A: Stay out of that area, because it is not meant to be driven on

    Chevron and diagonal markings fill paved areas that traffic is not intended to use, so drivers should keep out of them.

  5. 5. You have turned onto a street and see parked cars facing you and headlights coming toward you. What has probably happened?

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    Answer C: You have turned the wrong way onto a one-way street

    Vehicles parked facing you and headlights approaching in your lane are the classic signs of driving against the flow on a one-way street.

  6. 6. What is the driver expected to do after passing this sign?

    A yellow diamond showing a small eight sided shape above a black arrow pointing at it
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    Answer A: Begin slowing so that a complete stop can be made at the intersection ahead

    It is used where the control at the intersection stays hidden until late, so braking should begin here rather than at the stop line.

  7. 7. A yellow diamond shows the two edges of the road pinching toward each other. What does it mean?

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    Answer B: The pavement gets narrower but the lanes continue

    The road narrows sign warns that the traveled way becomes tighter, leaving less room beside passing vehicles even though no lane is dropped.

  8. 8. Which sign shape is reserved for one message only, the requirement to stop?

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    Answer A: The octagon

    The octagon is used for the stop sign and for no other message, so the outline alone identifies the requirement even when the legend is hard to read.

  9. 9. What must you be sure of before you pull out to pass on a two-lane road?

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    Answer A: That the road ahead is clear far enough for the whole pass

    You need enough clear road to pull out, pass and return before any oncoming vehicle arrives, and you must judge that distance before you start.

  10. 10. Your vehicle stalls on a railroad crossing and will not restart. What should you do first?

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    Answer A: Get everyone out and away from the tracks immediately

    Everyone must leave the vehicle and move well clear of the tracks at once, walking toward the train at an angle so that debris from an impact travels away from you.

  11. 11. A yellow diamond shows an arrow bent into a series of reversing turns. What does it warn about?

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    Answer A: Three or more changes of direction close together

    The winding road sign replaces a string of separate curve signs where several bends follow one another with only short straights between them.

  12. 12. You are waiting to turn left across two oncoming lanes when a driver in the near lane stops and waves you through. What should you do?

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    Answer D: Turn only after checking the far lane yourself

    The waving driver cannot give away the right of way of the traffic in the second lane, which may not be stopping at all.

  13. 13. You are on an entrance ramp merging onto a freeway. Who has to give way?

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    Answer B: You must yield and fit into a gap in the traffic already on the freeway

    Traffic entering a highway must yield to traffic already on it. Use the acceleration lane to match speed and merge into a gap.

  14. 14. You are about to pass another vehicle at night with your high beams on. What should you do?

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    Answer C: Switch to low beams as you come up behind it and while you are alongside

    High beams shining into the mirrors of the vehicle ahead blind the very driver whose reaction you depend on during the pass.

  15. 15. North of 60 degrees North latitude in Alaska, studded tires may not be used on a paved road during which period?

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    Answer B: May 1 through September 15

    Alaska prohibits studded tires and tire chains on paved roads from May 1 through September 15 north of 60 degrees North latitude, and from April 15 through September 30 south of it.

  16. 16. You want to move into the right lane just as an entrance ramp joins the highway at that point. What is the better choice?

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    Answer B: Wait until you are past the merge area so you do not squeeze the entering traffic

    The merge area is where ramp traffic has to find a gap, so adding a lane change of your own into the same space creates a conflict.

  17. 17. Freeway traffic ahead of you has come to a stop. Besides braking early, how can you warn the drivers behind you?

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    Answer B: By switching on the hazard lights for a few seconds

    A short burst of hazard lights is a recognized way to tell following traffic that the queue ahead has stopped, and it carries much further back than brake lights. Some states restrict hazard lights on a moving vehicle, so use them only for the moment you are slowing.

  18. 18. You are towing a loaded trailer for the first time. How should you drive?

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    Answer A: Slow earlier and keep a longer following gap

    A trailer adds weight and length, so stopping takes longer and every maneuver needs more room and more warning.

  19. 19. Lights set into the pavement along both edges of a crosswalk start to flash yellow as you approach. What do they tell you?

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    Answer D: Someone is crossing and has to be given way

    In-roadway warning lights flash only when a pedestrian activates the crossing, so a flashing pattern means somebody is in or entering the crosswalk.

  20. 20. The signal ahead turns yellow while you are approaching it. What does the yellow light mean?

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    Answer C: The red is coming; stop if you can do so safely

    A steady yellow warns that the red is next. Stop if you can do so safely; enter the intersection only when stopping would be dangerous.