Texas DPS Permit Practice Test 26
- Questions30
- Correct to pass21
- Passing score70%
- Minimum age15 years
-
1. Traffic has built up behind you while you wait for a gap to turn left. How should that affect your decision?
Show answer
Answer C: It should not change it; wait for a gap that is genuinely safe
Pressure from behind does not make a small gap bigger, and rushing a left turn across traffic is a common cause of serious crashes.
-
2. How does marijuana affect a driver?
Show answer
Answer C: It slows reaction time and impairs judgment of time and distance
Marijuana impairs coordination, attention and the ability to judge speed and distance. Driving while impaired by it is illegal everywhere, even where its use is legal.
-
3. The vehicle you want to pass is traveling close to the speed limit. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer C: Stay behind, because a pass may not take you over the limit
The speed limit applies while passing too. If you cannot complete the pass without exceeding it, do not start the pass.
-
4. A strong wind is blowing across an open stretch of road. Besides the gusts, what else should you watch for?
Show answer
Answer A: Branches, dust and loose objects blown into your path
High wind strips branches, litter and dust onto the roadway and can push other vehicles out of their lane, so scan much further ahead than usual.
-
5. Freeway traffic ahead of you has come to a stop. Besides braking early, how can you warn the drivers behind you?
Show answer
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.
-
6. You want to stop briefly and the only space is in the travel lane alongside a vehicle already parked at the curb. Is this allowed?
Show answer
Answer D: No, double parking blocks a travel lane and is prohibited
Stopping in the roadway beside a parked vehicle removes a lane from traffic and forces other drivers to swerve around you, which is why double parking is prohibited.
-
7. What is the minimum age for a Texas learner license?
Show answer
Answer A: 15 years old
Texas may issue a learner license to an applicant who is at least 15 and under 18, once the classroom phase of an approved driver education course is finished.
-
8. How long should a glance at a mirror or an instrument take?
Show answer
Answer A: A brief glance of about a second, returning your eyes to the road at once
Checks should be quick flicks of the eyes. At highway speed, a few seconds with your eyes off the road covers a distance long enough for a hazard to appear.
-
9. You are the first driver on a road just after a storm. What should you plan for?
Show answer
Answer B: Branches, mud and other debris hidden around the next bend
Storm debris lands where nobody has cleared it yet, often just beyond a curve or a crest, so reduce speed and look much further ahead.
-
10. A dust storm is blowing across the highway ahead of you. What is the recommended response?
Show answer
Answer B: Leave the road if you can, park well clear and take your foot off the brake
Get well off the pavement, switch the lights off and keep your foot off the brake, so drivers still on the road do not follow your tail lights off the highway.
-
11. What is the benefit of looking far down the road rather than just ahead of the hood?
Show answer
Answer A: You steer with smaller corrections and you see trouble in plenty of time
A distant view steadies your steering and gives you time to plan, because you meet hazards after you have already seen them.
-
12. What is wrong with slowing to a crawl at a stop sign and then rolling on through?
Show answer
Answer C: It is not a stop, and you may miss a pedestrian or cross traffic
A rolling stop is a violation and it also cuts short the moment you need in order to look carefully in each direction before entering.
-
13. What is the correct relationship between air bags and seat belts?
Show answer
Answer B: Air bags are designed to work together with seat belts, not instead of them
An air bag is a supplemental restraint that cushions one impact, while the belt keeps you in position so the bag can work and protects you in rollovers and secondary impacts.
-
14. Heavy rain has left standing water on the road where this sign is posted. What does the law expect of the driver?
Show answer
Answer C: Driving below the posted figure, at a speed that suits the conditions
Drivers must adapt to conditions, so in rain, fog, snow or dense traffic the safe speed falls below the posted maximum and keeping to that maximum can itself be an offense.
-
15. You have brought the vehicle under control after a blowout. What should you do next?
Show answer
Answer A: Signal and coast well off the road before stopping
Let the speed fall, signal, and leave the roadway as far from traffic as you can before you stop. Driving on a failed tire ruins the wheel and risks control.
-
16. You have entered a work zone where crews are working close to the open lane. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer A: Slow down and be ready for workers and machines
Workers and equipment cross the open lane without warning in a work zone, so reduced speed and attention on the road ahead are what keep them safe.
-
17. When does the Texas child safety seat law not apply to a driver who is transporting a young child?
Show answer
Answer A: When every position with a child seat or belt is already occupied
The child seat requirement does not apply when all seating positions equipped with child seats or safety belts are occupied, or to vehicles transporting passengers for hire.
-
18. Why is it dangerous to make a left turn from the second lane from the center?
Show answer
Answer C: Because a driver in the lane beside you is turning into the same space
Drivers in the proper turn lane are entitled to that space, and turning across them puts two vehicles into one path through the intersection.
-
19. The vehicle ahead of you has pulled out to pass a truck. May you follow it out and pass as well?
Show answer
Answer B: No, wait until it is done and judge the road for yourself
You cannot see past the vehicle ahead of you, and if it has to abort the pass there is nowhere for either of you to go.
-
20. An overhead sign shows that the right lane is EXIT ONLY. What does that mean if you intend to stay on the highway?
Show answer
Answer B: You have to move out of that lane before the exit
An exit only lane leaves the highway completely, so a driver continuing on the highway has to change lanes before it does.
-
21. Once you have parallel parked, how close to the curb should your wheels be?
Show answer
Answer C: Within the distance your state allows, commonly 12 to 18 inches
Parking close to and parallel with the curb keeps the vehicle out of the traffic lane without damaging the tires; each state sets the exact maximum, usually 12 inches and 18 inches in some states.
-
22. Traffic is backed up on the far side of a railroad crossing. What should you do before driving onto the tracks?
Show answer
Answer D: Wait behind the tracks until there is room to clear them completely
Never enter a crossing until you are certain you can drive completely across without stopping, because a vehicle trapped on the tracks cannot get out of a train's way.
-
23. An oncoming vehicle at night has its high beams on and you are being dazzled. Where should you look?
Show answer
Answer A: Toward the right edge of your lane
Looking toward the right edge line keeps you on course while sparing your eyes the worst of the glare. Slow down and do not retaliate with your own high beams.
-
24. Which of these stopped vehicles is covered by the Texas Move Over or Slow Down law?
Show answer
Answer A: A tow truck, a TxDOT maintenance vehicle or a utility service vehicle using the required visual signals
Texas extends the law to stationary emergency vehicles, tow trucks, TxDOT and highway maintenance vehicles, utility service vehicles, solid waste and recycling trucks, toll project vehicles, animal control vehicles and parking enforcement vehicles that display the required signals.
-
25. This sign is still standing late at night, and nobody is working. What should the driver assume?
Show answer
Answer B: The layout may still be altered, so the same care and reduced speed apply
Narrowed lanes, shifted alignments, dropped pavement edges and parked equipment remain overnight, so the hazard does not end when the crew goes home.
-
26. Where should you be looking as you steer through a turn?
Show answer
Answer C: Toward the point on the new road where you want to end up
Drivers steer toward what they look at, so looking through the turn to where you want to go keeps the path smooth and accurate.
-
27. An emergency vehicle with flashing lights and a siren is approaching from behind on a two-way street. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer C: Pull over to the right edge of the road and stop until it passes
Clearing a path by pulling to the right and stopping gives the emergency vehicle a predictable route, while stopping in mid-lane or inside an intersection blocks that path.
-
28. How long is a Texas driver's license administratively suspended for a first alcohol-related driving offense with a failed test, if the driver has no prior alcohol-related contact in the preceding 10 years?
Show answer
Answer C: 90 days
Section 524.022(a) sets the administrative suspension for a first offense with a clean 10-year history at 90 days.
-
29. Your right-turn lane shows a green arrow while the through lanes face a red ball. What does that mean?
Show answer
Answer C: Only the right turn is allowed, and it is protected while the arrow lasts
A green arrow gives a protected movement in that direction only; the red ball still stops the through traffic in the other lanes.
-
30. Where is a strong crosswind most likely to hit you suddenly?
Show answer
Answer D: Coming out of a tunnel or a cut onto an open bridge
Gusts arrive the moment you leave shelter, which is why bridge approaches and the ends of cuts and tunnels catch drivers out.