Massachusetts RMV Permit Practice Test 22
- Questions25
- Correct to pass18
- Passing score72%
- Minimum age16 years
-
1. Why is a shoulder check especially important on a road with motorcycles and bicycles?
Show answer
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.
-
2. Two solid yellow lines are painted down the center of a two-way road. What do they mean?
Show answer
Answer B: Traffic in neither direction may cross them to pass
A double solid yellow line marks a no-passing zone that applies to traffic traveling in either direction.
-
3. You reach a one-lane bridge and a vehicle is already partway across it coming toward you. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer D: Stop before the bridge and let it come through
A vehicle already on a one-lane bridge has the right of way, and the driver who has not yet entered waits at the approach.
-
4. Which of these places should never be used to turn your vehicle around?
Show answer
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.
-
5. Where should a rear-facing infant seat never be placed?
Show answer
Answer C: In a front seat with an active passenger air bag
A deploying front air bag strikes the back of a rear-facing seat with enormous force. Rear-facing seats belong in the back seat.
-
6. The word SCHOOL is painted in large letters across the roadway. What is it doing?
Show answer
Answer D: Backing up the signs marking a school zone
Word markings on the pavement reinforce a message that is already signed, and a driver looking at the road ahead cannot miss them.
-
7. May you stop briefly across the sloped ramp that joins the sidewalk to the street at a corner?
Show answer
Answer B: No, that ramp must stay clear for people using wheelchairs
A curb ramp is the only way many people can get from the sidewalk to the crosswalk, so blocking it even briefly is prohibited.
-
8. You are driving at night through heavy falling snow. Which headlight setting works better and why?
Show answer
Answer C: Low beams, because high beams bounce off the falling flakes back at you
Falling snow reflects light the way fog does, so high beams build a white wall of glare while low beams still give a usable view.
-
9. You are approaching a sharp curve. When should you reduce your speed?
Show answer
Answer D: Before you enter the curve, so you can accelerate gently through it
Braking hard inside a curve uses up the traction that is already being demanded for cornering, so the slowing must be finished before you enter.
-
10. What do yellow lines painted on a roadway separate?
Show answer
Answer D: Traffic moving in opposite directions
Yellow markings separate opposing streams of traffic, and they also mark the left edge of a divided highway or a one-way roadway.
-
11. A sign with a blue background and a white legend and border tells road users about
Show answer
Answer A: services such as fuel, food, lodging, hospitals and rest areas
Blue is the background of the general service series, which points travelers toward the services available along or near the route.
-
12. You leave your car so that its rear overhangs a marked crosswalk. What is wrong with that?
Show answer
Answer B: Pedestrians must step around it into the traffic lane
A crosswalk has to stay completely clear; anything sticking into it pushes people on foot out into the path of moving vehicles.
-
13. Your engine stalls while you are driving in traffic. What is the correct response?
Show answer
Answer A: Shift to neutral, try to restart it, and steer and brake toward the side of the road
With the engine off, power steering and power brake assistance fade, so steering and braking take more effort but still work. Neutral lets you attempt a restart while you coast to safety.
-
14. The trapezoid sign shape is associated with
Show answer
Answer C: recreational and cultural interest area signing
The trapezoid is used for recreational and cultural interest area guide signs and for national forest route markers.
-
15. A yellow diamond showing a truck is posted beside a quarry entrance. What is it warning about?
Show answer
Answer A: Trucks turning onto the highway from that entrance
A truck crossing or trucks entering sign is used where heavy vehicles pull onto the road from a site, and they accelerate slowly once they are on it.
-
16. You approach a one-lane bridge and there is a yield sign facing your side of it. What does that mean?
Show answer
Answer B: Oncoming traffic crosses the bridge first and you wait at the approach
At a one-lane bridge the yield sign tells one direction to give way, so you wait clear of the bridge until oncoming traffic has crossed.
-
17. A yellow diamond shows an arrow that doubles back on itself. What kind of curve lies ahead?
Show answer
Answer C: A turn of 135 degrees or more, nearly doubling back
The hairpin curve sign is used where the road changes direction by 135 degrees or more, and it is normally backed up by chevrons or a large arrow through the bend.
-
18. You are approaching a horse and rider on a country road. What about your horn?
Show answer
Answer C: Do not sound it at all, because the noise can frighten the animal
A startled horse is dangerous to its rider and to you, so pass wide and slow and leave the horn alone.
-
19. You cannot avoid a wide puddle that covers only the right half of your lane. What should you expect?
Show answer
Answer D: The water can tug the vehicle toward that side, so slow before it and grip the wheel
Water dragging on the tires of one side only pulls the vehicle that way. Reduce speed before you reach it and hold the wheel firmly.
-
20. How does heavy cargo on a roof rack change the way a vehicle handles?
Show answer
Answer D: It raises the center of gravity, so the vehicle tips more in turns and needs gentler steering
Weight carried high makes the vehicle lean more and roll over more easily, and extra weight lengthens stopping distance. Drive slower and steer smoothly with a loaded roof.
-
21. A curb sign reads No Standing. What does it allow you to do?
Show answer
Answer B: Stop only long enough to pick up or drop off passengers
No Standing bars waiting for any purpose except the brief moment needed to let passengers in or out, which is stricter than No Parking.
-
22. How does driving on overinflated tires affect the vehicle?
Show answer
Answer D: It gives a harsher ride and a smaller contact patch
An overinflated tire bulges in the middle, so less rubber touches the road, grip suffers and the ride becomes hard. The center of the tread wears first.
-
23. As a driver keeps drinking, in what order are driving abilities usually lost?
Show answer
Answer C: Judgment, then vision, reaction time and coordination
Alcohol reaches the parts of the brain that handle judgment first, and only later does it visibly affect sight, reactions and muscle control.
-
24. What is the what if habit of a defensive driver?
Show answer
Answer C: Thinking through what you would do if a hazard ahead of you turned bad
Rehearsing an answer before the hazard develops means you act at once instead of spending time deciding.
-
25. How large is the surcharge Massachusetts law adds to every speeding fine for the Head Injury Treatment Services Trust Fund?
Show answer
Answer C: 50 dollars
Every speeding fine carries a fixed surcharge that goes entirely to the Head Injury Treatment Services Trust Fund.