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.
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.
Alcohol makes it hard to hold a lane, judge speed, and react smoothly, so impaired drivers often weave, drive unusually slowly, and brake or stop without warning. If you notice these signs, keep well back and report the driver to police when it is safe.
If vehicles reach an uncontrolled intersection at the same moment, whoever is to the left must yield to the vehicle on their right, and a driver turning left additionally waits for oncoming vehicles going straight. Nobody is on the yellow car's right, so it proceeds first, followed by the blue car; the truck has to yield to both and goes last.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The mirrors show the green zones behind and beside the car, but nothing in the red zones appears in them, so only turning your head reveals a car there. A safe lane change uses all three steps, a signal, a mirror check and a shoulder check, and then a smooth move once the lane is clear.
Flashing red lights mean the bus is picking up or dropping off children, so traffic behind it must halt and remain stopped until the lights shut off and the stop arm retracts. Slowing down or passing instead is illegal and dangerous. How far back you must stop depends on the state; where the law gives a distance, it is usually 10 to 20 feet.
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.
Wet or icy pavement gives the tires less grip, so any slowing should be done before a curve or intersection, not in the middle of it. Likewise, shift into a lower gear before a steep downhill begins rather than after you are already descending.
Drivers who are 21 or older break the law once their BAC hits 0.08%. Anyone under 21 is held to a zero-tolerance limit far below that, so 0.08% is not their cutoff, and 0.06% is not the standard adult limit.
To test the gap, choose a fixed object such as a sign: once the red car passes it, the blue car should need at least three seconds to get there. One second or less is far too close, and rain, darkness or heavy traffic call for more room.
When wipers quit during rain or snow, your view is nearly gone. Slow down, and if looking out the open driver's window is your only means of seeing ahead, do so; brake and leave the road at the first safe chance. Once stopped, put on your hazard flashers and wait until the weather clears or the wipers are repaired.
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.
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.
Headlights are required for the whole period between sunset and sunrise, not just a short stretch at dusk or dawn, and also whenever rain, fog or other conditions make it hard to see. Your duty to use them does not depend on what other drivers are doing.
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.
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.
In North Carolina, a person convicted of impaired driving must get a substance abuse assessment and complete the education or treatment it calls for, such as the ADETS course, on top of fines and a license revocation. A first offense does not bring a five-year suspension, and the punishment is never limited to a small fine.
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.
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.
For its first six months, North Carolina's limited learner permit allows practice only from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., and a supervising driver must sit beside the permit holder in the front seat. Windows that run until 10 or 11 p.m. go past that limit.
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.
During its first six months, North Carolina's limited learner permit restricts practice driving to the hours from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., and a supervising driver must ride in the front seat every time. A window that starts later than 5 a.m., runs past 9 p.m., or covers the hours before dawn does not match that rule.
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.
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.
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.
Before the test begins, the examiner checks that your vehicle is safe and properly equipped. An unsafe vehicle, missing seat belts, or anything that keeps the examiner from reaching the brake pedal is enough to cancel the test, so check your car ahead of time.
Many states require every occupant to buckle up; in some, adults in the back seat are not legally required to, but a belt protects everyone, so every occupant should wear one. Young children must ride in a child safety seat that fits their age and size.
Every question in this set has its own page with the correct answer and an explanation.
