Massachusetts RMV Permit Practice Test 33
- Questions25
- Correct to pass18
- Passing score72%
- Minimum age16 years
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1. When should most of your braking for a turn be finished?
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Answer B: Before you begin to turn the wheel
Slow to the right speed before the turn begins; braking hard while turning uses up the grip the tires need for steering.
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2. The signal ahead has a sign prohibiting left turns, and your route needs a left. What should you do?
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Answer D: Go straight on and find a legal place to turn and come back
A turn prohibition applies to every driver, so you continue through and reach your route by another legal turn.
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3. You are calling 911 to report a crash. Which information matters most?
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Answer C: The exact location, how many people are hurt and any hazard such as fire
Dispatchers need to know where to send help, how much help to send, and what dangers the crews will meet on arrival.
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4. How can you check that you are keeping a safe following distance?
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Answer A: Count at least three seconds between the vehicle ahead passing a fixed object and your reaching it
Pick a fixed roadside object, start counting when the vehicle ahead passes it and make sure at least three seconds elapse before you reach it, adding more time in poor conditions.
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5. Another driver cuts you off and you feel your temper rising. What should you do?
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Answer A: Take a breath, drop back and let it go, because the whole trip matters more
Retaliation turns a moment of bad driving into a crash, and dropping back costs you only a few seconds.
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6. A vehicle coming toward you has drifted into your lane. What should you do?
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Answer D: Slow down, sound the horn, flash your lights and steer to the right if possible
Moving right gives the other driver space to recover and keeps you out of the lane they are most likely to return to. Braking reduces the force of any impact.
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7. You arrive at an intersection with no signs, no signals and no markings at the same time as a vehicle on the road to your right. What must you do?
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Answer B: Yield to the vehicle on your right
At an uncontrolled intersection you must yield to a vehicle already in the intersection or approaching from your right.
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8. The green left-turn arrow ends and a steady red ball comes on for your lane, at an intersection where no turn on red is allowed. What must you do?
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Answer D: Stop and wait, because no turn is allowed while the red ball is lit
Once a red indication faces your lane and no turn on red is permitted there, the turn is over; only a vehicle already inside the intersection completes its movement.
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9. You are waiting to pull out of a driveway when a bicyclist comes along the bike lane in front of you. What must you do?
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Answer D: Wait until the bicyclist has gone past
A driver leaving a driveway yields to everything already on the road, and a bike lane is part of the roadway.
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10. You receive a phone call that you feel you must answer while driving. What is the safest way to take it?
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Answer D: Pull off the road, stop in a safe place and then answer
No call is worth a crash. Stopping in a safe location removes the distraction completely, while every other option divides your attention.
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11. What license suspension follows a third Massachusetts operating under the influence conviction?
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Answer A: Eight years
A third OUI conviction is charged as a felony and the suspension jumps well beyond the second offense period.
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12. How often should you check your mirrors while driving?
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Answer C: Every few seconds, so you always know what is around you
Traffic behind and beside you changes constantly. Frequent, brief mirror checks keep a picture of your surroundings current so nothing surprises you.
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13. Your light turns green and a driver on the cross street enters against a red. What should you do?
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Answer D: Hold back and let that vehicle go through
Giving up a right of way you are entitled to is the only way to avoid a crash with a driver who has already failed to yield.
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14. The red lights on a stopped school bus go out and the bus begins to move away. What should you do?
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Answer B: Move off slowly and keep watching for children near the road
Children who have just left the bus may still be near the roadway or crossing behind it, so pull away gently and keep looking for them.
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15. You come upon a crash that has just happened and decide to help. Where should you stop your vehicle?
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Answer A: Well beyond the scene, completely off the road, with the hazard lights on
Stopping past the crash and off the pavement keeps you from becoming another victim and leaves the approach clear for emergency vehicles.
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16. In heavy fog at night on a rural two-lane road, which marking best helps a driver hold position?
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Answer C: The solid white line along the right edge
Steering by the right edge line keeps a driver clear of oncoming traffic, while watching the center line tends to pull the vehicle toward it.
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17. 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.
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18. A sign showing a figure with an outstretched thumb inside a red circle with a slash means that
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Answer B: soliciting a ride is prohibited there
The no hitchhiking sign bars standing beside the road to solicit a ride, and it is common along freeway ramps and shoulders.
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19. A high-occupancy vehicle lane is separated from the general lanes by a pair of solid white lines with a gap every so often. Where may you enter or leave it?
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Answer D: Only at the openings where the solid lines are broken
The solid lines forbid crossing, so entry and exit are limited to the designated openings where the marking is broken.
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20. You come to a place where a storm has dropped a power line across the road ahead. What should you do?
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Answer B: Stop well back, keep everyone away from it and report it to the police
A downed line may be live and can energize the ground around it, so keep well clear and let the utility or the police handle it.
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21. How does alcohol typically affect a driver's vision?
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Answer D: It blurs vision, weakens night vision and narrows attention to the sides
Alcohol slows the eye muscles and the brain's processing of what is seen, degrading focus, night vision, depth perception and awareness of movement at the edges of the field of view.
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22. Enhanced reference location markers differ from ordinary mileposts in that they
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Answer B: carry the route number and a mileage figure to the tenth of a mile
An enhanced reference location marker adds the route designation and carries the mileage to a tenth, so the point named is far more precise than a plain milepost.
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23. Your exit from a three-lane highway is about a mile ahead on the right, and you are in the left lane. What should you do?
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Answer B: Start moving right now, one lane at a time
Plan ahead and change lanes one at a time well before the exit, so you never have to cut across several lanes at the gore.
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24. On a school speed limit sign, the part carrying the word SCHOOL is shown
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Answer A: in black on a fluorescent yellow-green background
The SCHOOL portion of the school speed limit sign uses the same fluorescent yellow-green background as school warning signs, while the speed portion keeps the standard regulatory appearance.
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25. For how long is a Massachusetts learner's permit valid?
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Answer A: Up to two years
A learner's permit is valid for up to two years, and once it expires the applicant must pay the fee and sit the permit exam again.