Alaska DMV Permit Practice Test 56

  • 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. Someone stops drinking heavily at two in the morning and drives to work at eight. What is true?

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    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.

  2. 2. You are stopped at a red light ready to turn right when a person pushing a stroller steps into the crosswalk. What should you do?

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    Answer A: Stay stopped until they have crossed your path

    A turn on red gives way to every pedestrian in the crosswalk, and someone pushing a stroller has even less room to react.

  3. 3. How can you tell that a child safety seat is installed tightly enough?

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    Answer C: It moves less than an inch side to side or front to back at the belt path

    A correctly installed seat is nearly immovable where the belt or lower anchors pass through it. Excess movement lets the child's body travel farther in a crash.

  4. 4. A sign warns that your exit leaves from the left side of the freeway. What should you do?

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    Answer D: Move into the left lane in good time before you reach the exit

    Left-hand exits are unusual, which is exactly why they are signed well in advance and why the lane changes should be finished early.

  5. 5. Which of these places should never be used to turn your vehicle around?

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    Answer C: The driveway of a fire station or the roadway in front of it

    Turning around in or in front of a fire station driveway can block emergency vehicles leaving, and most states prohibit it.

  6. 6. Which trailer lights must work before you drive away?

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    Answer B: The tail lights, brake lights and turn signals

    The trailer hides the vehicle lights from anyone behind, so its own tail, brake and turn signals have to work before you move.

  7. 7. You are turning right from a one-way street onto a two-way street. Where should the turn end?

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    Answer A: In the lane nearest the right curb of the street you are entering

    A right turn starts and finishes as close to the right as practical, so you leave the one-way street from the right lane and arrive in the lane nearest the right curb.

  8. 8. You reach a stretch of road covered by moving flood water of unknown depth. What is the correct decision?

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    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.

  9. 9. A yellow diamond shows a car with wavy lines behind its rear tires. What is the warning?

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    Answer D: The surface loses grip badly when it is wet

    The slippery when wet sign marks a stretch where traction falls off sharply in rain, so speed and braking must be reduced well in advance.

  10. 10. A pedestrian using a white cane or walking with a guide dog starts to cross the street ahead of you. What must you do?

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    Answer A: Yield and stay stopped until the person has finished crossing

    A white cane or guide dog identifies a pedestrian who may not be able to see your vehicle, so you must yield and wait rather than maneuver around the person. The horn can confuse the pedestrian or the dog.

  11. 11. What should a driver do first after passing this sign?

    A yellow diamond showing two black lanes merging into one around a central island
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    Answer A: Move into the right-hand lane and stay there

    Traffic returns to two-way operation, so the driver keeps to the right of the centerline and stops treating the left side as available.

  12. 12. In plain words, what is understeer?

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    Answer B: The vehicle keeps going straight even though the wheels are turned

    Understeer means the front tires have run out of grip, so the vehicle takes a wider line than the one you steered.

  13. 13. On which approach is this sign normally installed?

    A yellow diamond showing a black T shape
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    Answer C: On the road that ends, far enough ahead for the driver to slow down

    The warning belongs on the approach that terminates, placed early enough that the driver can lose speed and choose a direction before reaching the junction.

  14. 14. What is the minimum legal tire tread depth in Alaska?

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    Answer B: Two thirty-seconds of an inch

    Alaska regulation forbids driving a vehicle with a tire whose tread depth is less than two thirty-seconds of an inch, measured in two adjacent grooves at three points around the tire.

  15. 15. What is the correct technique for backing a vehicle straight?

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    Answer B: Check behind the vehicle before getting in, then turn and look through the rear window while backing slowly

    Mirrors and cameras leave gaps close to the vehicle, so walk behind it first, then turn in your seat for a direct view and keep the speed low enough to stop instantly.

  16. 16. You notice a bulge on the sidewall of one of your tires. What should you do?

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    Answer D: Have the tire replaced before driving far, because it could blow out

    A sidewall bulge means the internal cords have broken and only the rubber is holding the air. The tire can fail suddenly at any speed.

  17. 17. A driver on a hands free call looks straight at a red light and drives through it. What best explains this?

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    Answer B: The eyes saw it but the brain did not process it

    Attention, not eyesight, decides what a driver actually sees, and a loaded mind can leave a driver looking straight at a hazard without registering it.

  18. 18. What must you do before changing lanes, in addition to signaling and checking your mirrors?

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    Answer D: Glance over your shoulder to check the blind spot the mirrors do not cover

    Mirrors leave an area beside and behind the vehicle that they cannot show, so a quick head check is needed before the vehicle moves sideways.

  19. 19. You want to turn right at a steady red light and no sign prohibits the turn. What is required?

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    Answer B: Come to a complete stop, then yield to traffic and pedestrians before turning

    A right turn on a steady red is permitted only after a complete stop and only after yielding to cross traffic and to pedestrians, and a posted sign can prohibit it entirely.

  20. 20. You are parking on a one-way street where parking is allowed on both sides. What must still be true?

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    Answer D: The vehicle must face the direction the traffic flows

    Either curb may be used on a one-way street where signs allow it, but the vehicle must always be headed in the direction traffic moves.