Tennessee TDOSHS Permit Practice Test 37
- Questions30
- Correct to pass24
- Passing score80%
- Minimum age15 years
-
1. You are following a large truck on a two-lane road and cannot see past it. What should you do before deciding to pass?
Show answer
Answer D: Drop back so that your view of the road ahead opens up
Distance is what buys you a view around a large vehicle, and no decision to pass can be made from a position where you cannot see.
-
2. You are first in the queue at a red light with a marked crosswalk. Where should your vehicle stop?
Show answer
Answer A: Behind the stop line, so that the crosswalk stays clear
Stopping short of the line keeps the crosswalk usable for people on foot and keeps your vehicle out of the path of turning traffic.
-
3. A tow truck with flashing amber lights is loading a car on the shoulder ahead. How should you treat it?
Show answer
Answer B: Give it the same room as an emergency vehicle
Tow operators, utility crews and highway workers face the same danger from passing traffic, so move over or slow down for their flashing amber lights too.
-
4. A grade crossing is marked only with a crossbuck and has no lights or gates. What does the crossbuck require of you?
Show answer
Answer C: Yield to rail traffic and cross only when no train is approaching
The crossbuck requires road users to yield the right-of-way to rail traffic, so you must look and listen and be ready to stop.
-
5. What is the basic rule for entering a roundabout?
Show answer
Answer B: Traffic already circulating goes first, and you wait for a gap
Entering traffic yields to vehicles already going around the circle, which is what keeps a roundabout moving instead of locking up.
-
6. On a busy multilane highway, where is the best place to travel?
Show answer
Answer B: In a gap in the traffic, with space open on both sides
Travelling in a gap keeps escape routes open on both sides, while riding alongside other vehicles removes the room you would need to swerve.
-
7. What is the correct first step when parallel parking behind an empty space?
Show answer
Answer D: Signal, pull up alongside the vehicle in front of the space, then back slowly into it
Parallel parking is done in reverse from a position alongside the vehicle ahead of the space, because backing in lets the rear wheels guide the vehicle to the curb.
-
8. You are turning right off a street into a parking lot driveway that crosses a bike lane and a sidewalk. Who has the right of way?
Show answer
Answer D: Pedestrians on the sidewalk and riders in the bike lane
Turning into a driveway means crossing the paths of people who were already traveling straight, so you give way to both the bike lane and the sidewalk.
-
9. What is the proper use of the horn?
Show answer
Answer C: To give a brief warning when another road user may not have seen you
The horn is a warning device meant to alert someone to your presence when a collision is possible, and using it in anger tends to escalate conflict rather than prevent crashes.
-
10. What does a sign reading Slower Traffic Keep Right require?
Show answer
Answer C: Traffic moving slower than the general flow must use the right-hand lane
The sign applies to any vehicle traveling below the speed of the traffic around it, which must keep right so faster vehicles can use the lanes to the left.
-
11. May you park at the curb immediately next to a railroad crossing?
Show answer
Answer A: No, you must leave the crossing and its approach clear
Parking beside a crossing hides the tracks and the signals from approaching drivers and leaves no room for a vehicle that has to clear the rails.
-
12. An exit ramp is separated from the highway by a triangle of pavement painted with white stripes. What may you do there?
Show answer
Answer C: Nothing; keep off it and choose either the lane or the ramp
The striped area between a ramp and the through lanes is not for driving, stopping or last-second changes of direction.
-
13. A yellow sign ahead of an underpass reads LOW CLEARANCE 12 FT 6 IN. What does the figure tell you?
Show answer
Answer B: The greatest height that can pass beneath the structure
The figure is the actual clearance available, so a vehicle taller than that must leave the road and take a marked alternative route.
-
14. A hands free phone conversation is which kind of distraction?
Show answer
Answer C: Cognitive, because your mind leaves the road
Hands free equipment removes the manual and visual parts of a call but not the mental load, and it is the mental load that makes a driver miss hazards.
-
15. You have a green light and are turning right. Pedestrians are stepping off the curb into the crosswalk you are about to cross. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer B: Wait and let them cross before completing your turn
A green light does not release a turning driver from yielding to pedestrians already in the crosswalk of the street being entered.
-
16. A pedestrian steps off the curb in the middle of a block where there is no crosswalk at all. What is the legal position?
Show answer
Answer A: They must yield to you, but you must still avoid a crash
A pedestrian crossing away from a crosswalk yields to vehicles, yet every driver still has a duty to use care and avoid hitting a person.
-
17. A large truck is passing you on a two-lane road. What is the safest thing to do?
Show answer
Answer C: Keep right in your lane and ease off the gas a little
Staying in your own lane and easing off shortens the pass without forcing you onto a soft shoulder or into the truck's path.
-
18. Why is dusk one of the harder times of day to drive?
Show answer
Answer B: The failing light blurs shapes into the background
In fading light there is not enough contrast to pick objects out, yet it is not dark enough for headlights to do the work, so pedestrians and cyclists disappear.
-
19. What happens when alcohol is combined with another drug that also affects the nervous system?
Show answer
Answer B: Impairment is often far greater than either one alone would produce
Combined substances can multiply each other's effects, producing impairment well beyond what a driver would expect from either one taken separately.
-
20. Is it acceptable to watch a video on a screen positioned where you can see it while driving?
Show answer
Answer B: No, the screen pulls your eyes and attention away from the road
Moving pictures are among the strongest visual distractions. Video screens must be out of the driver's view while the vehicle is moving.
-
21. Why are drivers required to turn the front wheels when parking on a grade?
Show answer
Answer A: So that a vehicle that starts to roll leaves the traffic lanes instead of entering them
The wheel position is a last line of defense if the parking brake or transmission fails, directing the vehicle into the curb or off the roadway.
-
22. Cones and drums mark a shifted lane through a work zone. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer A: Follow the path that they mark and stay inside it
Channelizing devices define the temporary travel path, and the space on the other side of them belongs to the workers.
-
23. You are towing a trailer and turning right at an intersection. What must you allow for?
Show answer
Answer D: The trailer cuts the corner, so swing wider than usual
A trailer follows a shorter path than the towing vehicle, so its wheels track inside your line and can mount the curb unless you take the turn wide.
-
24. A steady red arrow is displayed for your left-turn lane at a two-way intersection. What must you do?
Show answer
Answer C: Stop and remain stopped until an indication permits the turn
A steady red arrow prohibits the movement it points to, so the driver stops and waits for a green arrow, a flashing yellow arrow or another indication that permits the turn.
-
25. On a highway with mileage-based exit numbering, you have just passed exit 42 and are looking for exit 55. About how far is it?
Show answer
Answer B: Thirteen miles
With mileage-based numbering each exit takes the number of the nearest milepost, so subtracting one exit number from another gives the distance in miles.
-
26. What is a good rule for any task you want to do inside the vehicle?
Show answer
Answer D: If it needs more than a moment, do it stopped
A glance of a second or two is manageable, but any task that runs longer belongs to a stopped vehicle, because the road does not pause while you do it.
-
27. You reach the end of the acceleration lane and there is still no gap in the traffic. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer B: Slow down and merge behind the traffic rather than forcing your way in
Merging behind the traffic costs you only a little speed, while forcing into a space that is not there puts you alongside a vehicle with nowhere to go.
-
28. Something rolls off the seat onto the floor while you are driving. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer C: Leave it where it is and pick it up after you stop somewhere safe
Reaching for an object pulls your eyes and your body away from the controls at exactly the wrong moment, and nothing on the floor is worth that risk.
-
29. Which of these convictions triggers a Tennessee SR-22 filing requirement?
Show answer
Answer D: A hit-and-run offense
A hit-and-run conviction is one of the offenses that requires the driver to carry SR-22 proof of financial responsibility.
-
30. Your loaded vehicle weighs more than the figure shown on a posted weight limit sign. What must you do?
Show answer
Answer D: Find another route, because crossing is not permitted
A posted weight limit is a legal maximum, not advice, so an overweight vehicle has to take a different route.