Under implied consent, getting a license and driving on public roads count as advance agreement to chemical testing, such as a breath test, when you are arrested on suspicion of drunk driving. Refusing the test usually brings its own penalties, including loss of your license.
Slippery pavement gives your tires less traction, so lose speed before a curve or intersection rather than while you are in it. Speeding into a curve, or waiting until you are already descending a hill to downshift, makes a skid more likely.
For drivers 21 and older, the standard legal limit is a BAC of 0.08%. Drivers under 21 are covered by zero-tolerance laws with a far lower limit, so 0.08% is not the cutoff for 18- to 20-year-olds, and 0.06% is not the standard adult limit.
Tip Watch the decimal point closely: the adult limit is 0.08% BAC, not 0.8%.
A stop sign, a red signal, and a stop order from an officer directing traffic each require a full stop. The same duty applies in other cases too, such as a school bus with flashing red lights or a train approaching a railroad crossing.
Before you back up, change lanes or brake suddenly, check the traffic behind you with your mirrors and by turning your head. Look over your shoulder through the rear window when backing, and check your blind spot before moving into another lane. These are the moments when a collision with someone behind you is most likely: backing takes you toward whatever is back there, and if you change lanes or brake hard, a vehicle coming up behind you may have no room to avoid you.
To indicate a right turn, stick your left arm through the driver's window and bend it up at the elbow so your hand points toward the sky. A straight, extended arm signals a left turn, while an arm bent downward signals that you are slowing down or stopping.
Georgia's Class D (intermediate) license comes with a nighttime curfew: driving is banned from midnight until 5:00 a.m., and no exceptions are allowed.
Under normal conditions, follow the three-second rule: stay at least 3 seconds behind the vehicle ahead. In bad weather, heavy traffic or other poor conditions, leave even more time; a gap of 1 second or less is far too short to stop safely.
Headlights must be on at night, which many states take to mean the time starting 30 minutes after the sun sets and ending 30 minutes before it rises, and also whenever rain, fog, or other bad weather makes seeing difficult. They light the road ahead and help other drivers notice your vehicle.
As the picture shows, your mirrors leave blind spots on both sides of the car, so after signaling and checking the mirrors you still need a quick look over your shoulder. Leaving out either the mirror check or the shoulder check can leave a nearby vehicle unseen.
Set the front wheels so that the curb would stop the car if it started to roll: angle them toward the curb if the car points downhill and away from it if the car points uphill. Apply the parking brake every time.
Tip Downhill means wheels toward the curb; uphill with a curb means wheels away from it.
After a blowout, hold the steering wheel firmly, take your foot off the accelerator, and keep the car going straight while it loses speed on its own. Braking hard can make you lose control, so stop only after you have eased off the road to a safe spot.
When a crash cannot be avoided, the goal is to reduce the force of the impact. Something that yields absorbs energy better than a rigid object, a stationary object is less violent to hit than an oncoming vehicle, and a glancing contact is far less dangerous than a direct, head-on hit.
Tight or curving roads, intersections, railroad crossings, and wet or slippery pavement all leave less room for error. A lower speed buys you reaction time and cuts the distance you need to stop.
High speeds and heavy traffic on major highways leave little time to respond, so you need to stay focused, scan the road and mirrors continually, and be ready for hazards such as stalled vehicles, debris, or sudden slowdowns.
One standard drink equals either 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits; each holds about the same amount of alcohol. Choosing beer or wine over liquor does not make you any less impaired.
When the wipers fail in rain or snow, ease off your speed at once, open the driver's window and look out of it if that is the only way to see, and then brake and leave the road at a safe spot. Wait there with your hazard flashers on until the weather clears or the wipers are fixed.
Flashing red lights mean children are getting on or off, so you must come to a full stop at least 20 feet behind the bus. Do not move again until the lights go off and the stop arm has been pulled back in.
Water on the pavement makes stopping take longer, so open up a gap of at least 4 to 5 seconds behind the vehicle ahead. Brake, steer and accelerate gently to avoid skidding.
Tip On wet pavement, plan on about twice your usual following distance so you have room to stop.
School zones commonly carry a 25 mph limit while children are present, for example when a crossing guard is leading students across the street. Where a different limit is posted, the posted sign takes priority, and you should always watch for children stepping into the road.
The yellow car has no one on its right, so it goes first, and the blue car, which must yield to the yellow car on its right, goes second. The truck goes last: the blue car is on its right, and as a left-turning vehicle it must also yield to the yellow car coming from the opposite direction.
Blinking your brake lights or turning on the hazard flashers lets the people behind you know early that traffic is stopping for a crash ahead, which gives them room to slow down. These signals warn of danger or an unexpected slowdown; they are not a way to thank another driver or something to use while reversing out of a parking spot.
Tip Hazard flashers are for warning others of a sudden danger, not for excusing double-parking or for ordinary driving.
You must not pass or go around a vehicle that has stopped for people at a crosswalk, because it may be hiding a child who is stepping into the road. Obeying the school speed limit and letting children cross first are things you must do, not things you must avoid.
If a school bus stops on a two-lane road with its red lights flashing, traffic approaching from either direction has to stop and stay put until the lights go off and the bus moves on. Simply slowing down is not sufficient, including when the bus is on the opposite side of the road.
Tip Drivers on the far side of a highway split by a physical divider, such as a raised median, are not required to stop.
Georgia, like several other states, requires headlights from half an hour after sunset until half an hour before sunrise, and also whenever rain, fog, or other conditions cut visibility. Waiting 45 minutes is too late, while 15 minutes is earlier than the law demands, though switching them on early is always allowed.
The headlight requirement begins 30 minutes after sunset, when fading daylight makes it harder for others to see you. Also turn them on at any hour when rain, snow, or fog limits visibility.
Most states require a parallel-parked car to have its wheels within 12 inches of the curb, and some allow up to 18, so staying within 12 inches keeps you legal in either case. A wider gap leaves the car sticking out into the travel lane, where it becomes a hazard to passing traffic.
Tip A gap of roughly 6 to 12 inches keeps you within the limit while protecting your tires from the curb.
Total stopping distance is the ground you cover while reacting plus the distance needed to brake, which depends on speed, brakes, tires, and the road surface. Darkness can make hazards harder to spot, but the clock itself does not change how far the vehicle needs to stop.
Tip When judging how quickly you can stop, think about speed, reaction time, brakes, tires, and pavement, not the hour.
Georgia law makes a DUI Risk Reduction Program part of every DUI sentence. Even a first conviction also brings a fine of at least $300, at least 24 hours in jail and a license suspension far longer than a week.
Alcohol makes it hard to hold a steady lane position and speed, so swerving between lanes, crawling well below the pace of traffic, and stopping suddenly for no clear reason are classic warning signs. Give such a driver plenty of room and report the vehicle to police when you can do so safely.
No one number is safe in every situation. Choose your speed based on the weather, the road surface, how far you can see and how heavy traffic is, and remember that driving under the limit can still be too fast in poor conditions.
Cutting across a parking lot, gas station, or other property to avoid a sign or signal is illegal. The only exception is when a police officer directs traffic that way.
The examiner inspects the vehicle before the drive starts, and any one of these problems is enough to cancel the test: an unsafe car, missing seat belts, or equipment that keeps the examiner from reaching the brake pedal. Check that your car is safe, legal and properly equipped before test day.
A siren or flashing red or blue lights mean an emergency vehicle needs the road. Move to the right edge, stop, and stay there until it has gone by; failing to do so breaks the law and puts lives at risk.
Passing must always be done on the paved, main part of the road. Pulling onto the shoulder or dirt edge to get by is never allowed, even next to a vehicle that is turning left.
Headphones covering both ears block out sirens, horns and other warning sounds, which is why driving with them on is prohibited in California and several other states. Adjusting mirrors while moving or letting a pet roam the car can be distracting, but neither is covered by that ban.
Every question in this set has its own page with the correct answer and an explanation.
