Alaska DMV Motorcycle Practice Test 18

  • Questions25
  • Correct to pass20
  • Passing score80%
  • Minimum age16 years

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

  1. 1. An angry driver is following you closely and gesturing at you. What is the safe response?

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    Answer B: Drive to a police station or to a busy public place and call for help

    Never stop to confront an aggressive driver and never lead one home; go somewhere public and get the police involved.

  2. 2. Why is parking too close to a street corner prohibited?

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    Answer D: Because it hides approaching traffic and pedestrians

    A vehicle parked at a corner blocks the view that both drivers and pedestrians need before entering the intersection.

  3. 3. Which of these makes you unpredictable to other drivers?

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    Answer B: Changing lanes suddenly without signaling, to save a moment

    An unsignalled, sudden lane change gives nobody time to react and is a common cause of sideswipe collisions.

  4. 4. A steady green downward arrow is displayed above the lane you are in. What does it tell you?

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    Answer A: You may drive in that lane

    A green downward arrow means the lane beneath it is open for travel in your direction.

  5. 5. How does being tired change your total stopping distance?

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    Answer A: It lengthens it, because you take longer to notice and react

    Fatigue stretches perception and reaction time, and every extra fraction of a second is added distance before the brakes even begin to work.

  6. 6. Why do bridges and overpasses deserve extra caution when temperatures are near freezing?

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    Answer A: They lose heat from above and below, so they ice over before the surrounding road

    A bridge deck is exposed to cold air on both surfaces and has no ground beneath it to hold heat, so ice can form there while the connecting road is still only wet.

  7. 7. Why are sign shapes and colors standardized across the whole country?

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    Answer D: So a driver knows the kind of message before reading it

    Uniform shapes and colors let a driver classify a sign as regulatory, warning or guide from a distance, before the legend can be read.

  8. 8. You are stopped at a T-intersection and a driver on the through road is signaling a right turn into your road. What is the safe assumption?

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    Answer B: The driver may not actually turn, so wait until the vehicle slows and starts turning

    A blinking signal may have been left on by mistake or may be for the next street, so wait until the vehicle actually slows and turns.

  9. 9. The posted limit is 55 mph, but heavy traffic and rain make that speed unsafe. What does the law expect of you?

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    Answer D: You must slow to a speed that is safe for the conditions

    The basic speed rule requires a speed that is reasonable for the traffic, weather and road, and that speed is often well below the posted maximum.

  10. 10. You are in the open lane where another lane is merging into yours. What is your part in the merge?

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    Answer A: Keep a steady speed and leave a gap for one vehicle to come in

    A merge works when each driver in the through lane lets one vehicle in, which keeps both lines moving instead of stopping them both.

  11. 11. Your vehicle breaks down on a busy highway. What is the safest course of action?

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    Answer D: Get it as far off the roadway as possible, switch on the hazard lights and keep clear of the traffic lanes

    A vehicle left in or beside a travel lane is a hazard, so move it well off the road, make it conspicuous with hazard lights and keep yourself away from passing traffic.

  12. 12. A person using a wheelchair is waiting to cross at a corner ahead. How should you treat that person?

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    Answer B: As a pedestrian with the right of way at the crossing

    A wheelchair or a mobility scooter user has the rights of a pedestrian, so yield the whole crossing and wait until the crossing is finished.

  13. 13. What must a motorcycle be equipped with before it can safely carry a passenger?

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    Answer B: A seat large enough for two people and a set of passenger footrests

    A passenger needs a seat with room for both people without crowding and firm footrests to brace against.

  14. 14. A sign on a long descent points to a RUNAWAY TRUCK RAMP a mile ahead. What is that ramp for?

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    Answer C: Stopping a vehicle whose brakes have failed

    An escape ramp climbs into deep gravel or sand to bring a vehicle with failed brakes to a halt, so no one should stop or park in it.

  15. 15. Which of these is an early warning that you are too tired to keep driving?

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    Answer C: Not remembering the last few miles you drove

    Memory gaps, repeated yawning, heavy eyelids and drifting are the body signaling that sleep is winning, and they mean stop rather than push on.

  16. 16. Why is this restriction used so often on a divided road just before a crest or a bend?

    A white square showing a U shaped arrow inside a red circle with a red diagonal line through it
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    Answer A: Because a vehicle turning across the median there stays hidden from approaching drivers until it is too late

    The maneuver needs a long gap and good visibility, and where sight distance is short an approaching driver has no time to react to a vehicle turning across the road.

  17. 17. Which helmet style gives the rider the most coverage?

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    Answer C: A full face helmet

    A full face helmet covers the chin and jaw as well as the skull, protecting the area that open styles leave exposed.

  18. 18. A bag strapped to the back of your motorcycle works loose and starts to shift as you ride. What should you do?

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    Answer C: Slow smoothly, pull off the road, and secure the load before riding on

    A load that moves changes the balance of the motorcycle and can foul a wheel or the chain, so stop as soon as you safely can and fasten it properly.

  19. 19. What does the traffic law actually say about the right of way?

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    Answer B: It says who must yield; no driver is ever entitled to take the right of way

    The law describes who must yield. Right of way is something you give; insisting on it when another driver does not yield causes crashes.

  20. 20. You are stopped at a stop sign waiting to turn onto a highway where traffic moves at 55 mph. How should you choose your gap?

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    Answer A: Wait for a much larger gap than the one you would accept on a city street

    Fast traffic covers ground while you are still accelerating, so the gap that feels adequate at 25 mph is dangerously short at highway speed.

  21. 21. Where should a touring rider keep the rain suit?

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    Answer B: Somewhere it can be reached quickly without unpacking everything

    Rain gear only helps if you can get to it before you are soaked, so pack it where a quick roadside stop is enough to reach it.

  22. 22. South 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 D: April 15 through September 30

    South of 60 degrees North the prohibition runs from April 15 through September 30, which is a longer ban than the one applying in the northern part of the state.

  23. 23. On a multi-lane street, a yield line is painted well back from an unsignalized crosswalk rather than right at it. Why?

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    Answer D: So drivers in the other lanes can see the pedestrian

    Setting the yield line back keeps a stopped vehicle from hiding a crossing pedestrian from drivers in the next lane, which is a common cause of these crashes.

  24. 24. Why is a shoulder check especially important on a road with motorcycles and bicycles?

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    Answer D: A narrow vehicle can disappear completely in the blind spot

    A motorcycle or a bicycle is small enough to be hidden entirely by a door pillar or by the blind spot the mirrors do not cover.

  25. 25. Which sign tells you that the vehicles ahead are part of a funeral procession?

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    Answer C: Headlights burning in daylight, with small flags or markers on the vehicles

    Processions are normally identified by daytime headlights, hazard lights and flags or windshield markers, not by emergency lights or sirens.