Michigan SOS Permit Practice Test 20
- Questions50
- Correct to pass40
- Passing score80%
- Minimum age14 years 9 months
-
1. A loaded truck is coming up an entrance ramp as you approach in the right lane of the freeway. What is the most helpful action?
Show answer
Answer A: Adjust your speed to open a gap for it
A heavy vehicle accelerates slowly, so opening a gap or moving over costs you seconds and saves the truck driver from being forced to stop on the ramp.
-
2. You are stopped at a T-intersection and a driver on the through road is signaling a right turn into your road. What is the safe assumption?
Show answer
Answer B: The driver may not actually turn, so wait until the vehicle slows and starts turning
A blinking signal may have been left on by mistake or may be for the next street, so wait until the vehicle actually slows and turns.
-
3. What must you be sure of before you pull out to pass on a two-lane road?
Show answer
Answer A: That the road ahead is clear far enough for the whole pass
You need enough clear road to pull out, pass and return before any oncoming vehicle arrives, and you must judge that distance before you start.
-
4. How does alcohol affect a driver's ability to handle several things at once?
Show answer
Answer B: It cuts the ability to divide attention between tasks
Driving means watching the road, the mirrors and the instruments together, and alcohol narrows attention so that one of those tasks is dropped without the driver noticing.
-
5. Why does safety guidance say a child should ride in the back seat rather than in front of an active passenger airbag?
Show answer
Answer D: Because the airbag inflates with enough force to injure a small child badly
Airbags deploy at very high speed and are sized for adults, so a child seated close to one can be badly hurt by the bag itself, which is why the back seat is recommended for children.
-
6. An overhead sign shows that the right lane is EXIT ONLY. What does that mean if you intend to stay on the highway?
Show answer
Answer B: You have to move out of that lane before the exit
An exit only lane leaves the highway completely, so a driver continuing on the highway has to change lanes before it does.
-
7. On a two-lane road, a solid yellow line runs on your side of the center while a broken yellow line runs on the other side. What does this mean?
Show answer
Answer D: You may not pass, although oncoming drivers may
Passing restrictions are read from the line closest to your own lane, so a solid yellow line on your side creates a no-passing zone for you alone.
-
8. On which approach is this sign normally installed?
Show answer
Answer C: On the road that ends, far enough ahead for the driver to slow down
The warning belongs on the approach that terminates, placed early enough that the driver can lose speed and choose a direction before reaching the junction.
-
9. You are leaving a private driveway and entering a public street. What are you required to do?
Show answer
Answer B: Stop and yield to traffic on the street and to pedestrians on the sidewalk
A driver entering a roadway from a driveway, alley or private road must stop and yield to traffic on the roadway and to pedestrians on the sidewalk being crossed.
-
10. A yellow diamond in which one line joins another at an angle warns that
Show answer
Answer B: traffic from another roadway will merge into the driver's lane ahead
The merge sign warns that another traffic stream will join the same lane ahead, so drivers on both roadways must adjust speed and spacing.
-
11. On a narrow residential street, why does parking tight against the curb matter so much?
Show answer
Answer C: Because fire trucks and ambulances need the width to get through
Cars parked even a foot out from the curb on both sides can narrow a street until a fire truck or ambulance cannot pass.
-
12. You reach a four-way stop after another driver has already stopped there. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer D: Let the driver who stopped first proceed before you go
At a four-way stop the vehicles proceed in the order they arrived, so a driver who stopped before you goes first.
-
13. What single action does Michigan allow with a mounted mobile device while driving?
Show answer
Answer B: One press, tap or swipe to activate a function or select a number or name
A device may be used in voice-operated or hands-free mode, and Michigan permits a single button press, tap or swipe to activate or deactivate a feature or to select a telephone number or a name.
-
14. Besides motorist services and tourist information, a blue sign background is also used for
Show answer
Answer B: evacuation route signing
Blue is assigned to road user services, tourist information and evacuation routes, so hurricane and other evacuation routes are signed in blue.
-
15. Apart from other vehicles, who else must a driver let go first at this sign?
Show answer
Answer A: Pedestrians and cyclists already in or entering the crossing
The duty to give way covers every road user who has the right of way at that point, including people walking or cycling across the driver's path.
-
16. Where is this sign normally installed?
Show answer
Answer A: At an island or other obstruction in the roadway, to show which side traffic must take
It is placed at a divider, island or fixed obstruction so that drivers approaching it know without hesitating which side to pass on.
-
17. How many points does a Michigan operating while intoxicated conviction add?
Show answer
Answer D: 6 points
Operating while intoxicated carries 6 points, the highest number Michigan assigns to any single traffic offense.
-
18. You are traveling in the same direction as a funeral procession and want to get ahead of it. What should you not do?
Show answer
Answer B: Driving in between the vehicles of the procession
Most states prohibit driving into or through a funeral procession, and cutting into the line leaves the drivers behind with no lead vehicle to follow, so go around only where passing is permitted.
-
19. What is the safe way to carry a dog in a car?
Show answer
Answer C: In a secured crate, or in a harness attached to a seat belt anchor
An unrestrained animal distracts the driver and becomes a heavy projectile in a crash, so it should be crated or harnessed.
-
20. When should you arrange your way home if you plan to drink?
Show answer
Answer C: Before the first drink
Judgment is the first thing alcohol weakens, so the plan has to be made while you can still make a good one.
-
21. Some states allow a left turn against a red light. Which movement is it?
Show answer
Answer A: A left turn from a one-way street onto another one-way street
The movement generally allowed on red is one-way to one-way, because the turn does not cross any lane of oncoming traffic; a few states also extend it to a two-way street turning onto a one-way street.
-
22. A yellow sign reads SOFT SHOULDER. What is it telling you?
Show answer
Answer C: The shoulder may not carry the weight of a vehicle
A soft shoulder is unpaved and can let a wheel sink, so a driver who leaves the pavement there may lose control or become stuck.
-
23. A bicyclist stops at a four-way stop just before you do. Who goes first?
Show answer
Answer B: The bicyclist, who reached the intersection and stopped there before you did
A bicyclist on the roadway follows the same right of way rules as a driver, so arrival order decides the turn.
-
24. You reach a red light with a sign reading NO TURN ON RED. What may you do?
Show answer
Answer D: Wait for the green; no turn is allowed while the light is red
That sign removes the usual permission to turn on red at the intersection, so you must wait for a green indication.
-
25. About how far ahead do low beam headlights let you see on a dark road?
Show answer
Answer B: About 250 feet
Low beams light roughly 250 feet of road, and high beams roughly 350 to 500 feet, which sets the limit on a safe night speed.
-
26. What is the safest way to deal with the situation this sign announces?
Show answer
Answer B: Match the speed of the other traffic stream and open a gap so vehicles can blend without hard braking
Blending works when speeds are matched and gaps are opened, so nobody has to brake hard or swerve where the two streams come together.
-
27. What happens to a Michigan car driver who refuses a roadside preliminary breath test?
Show answer
Answer D: The driver is responsible for a civil infraction
Refusing a lawfully requested preliminary chemical breath analysis is a civil infraction for the driver of an ordinary vehicle, unlike refusing the later chemical test at the station.
-
28. Which shape is used for the school advance warning sign and the school crossing sign?
Show answer
Answer B: An upward-pointing pentagon
The five-sided pentagon with its point up identifies school signing, so the outline alone tells a driver that children may be present.
-
29. How much clear road do driver manuals say you need before starting a pass at highway speed on a two-lane road?
Show answer
Answer C: Enough to complete the pass and return, roughly ten to twelve seconds of travel
At highway speed the whole maneuver of pulling out, overtaking and returning takes roughly ten to twelve seconds, and every foot of that has to be visible before you start.
-
30. A pedestrian is waiting to cross ahead of you and you have slowed down. What helps most?
Show answer
Answer D: Making eye contact, so that you both know you have seen each other
Eye contact confirms that you have seen each other; waving someone across can send them into the path of another vehicle.
-
31. This sign comes into view ahead of a driver who has already started along a ramp. What should the driver do?
Show answer
Answer B: Pull clear where it is safe, then turn around and leave the ramp traveling properly
The driver is traveling against the legal flow, so the safest response is to stop clear of the lanes, turn the vehicle around and get off the ramp before meeting traffic head on.
-
32. You arrive at an intersection where the traffic signals are completely dark after a power failure. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer A: Treat the intersection as an all-way stop and take turns
When a signal is dark or out of order, drivers on every approach must stop and proceed in turn, exactly as at a four-way stop.
-
33. Which combination best reduces the chance of hydroplaning?
Show answer
Answer D: Good tread depth, correct tire pressure and lower speed in the rain
Tread channels water away, correct pressure keeps the tire's shape, and lower speed gives the tire time to push water aside. Hydroplaning can begin at surprisingly modest speeds.
-
34. The queue for an exit ramp has backed up into the right lane of the highway. What should you do if you want that exit?
Show answer
Answer B: Join the back of the queue in the lane instead of cutting in later
Passing a queue and forcing in at the front stops the whole line, and using the shoulder puts you where broken-down vehicles are expected to be.
-
35. Federal law lets a state open its high-occupancy vehicle lanes to certain vehicles carrying only one person. Which of these is covered by that allowance?
Show answer
Answer B: Motorcycles
Federal law lets states allow motorcycles into high-occupancy vehicle lanes regardless of the number of occupants, because keeping riders in the flow is safer than the alternative.
-
36. You are turning left into a street that is divided by a raised median. Which side should you enter?
Show answer
Answer C: The right-hand roadway, so that you travel on the proper side
A raised median separates two directions of travel, so the turn must be completed into the roadway carrying traffic your way.
-
37. After turning right you see a sign showing that your lane ends a short way ahead. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer B: Signal and merge into the next lane while there is still room
Merge early and smoothly while a gap is still available, rather than running out of pavement or forcing your way in at the last moment.
-
38. A driver passes this sign on an open road. Over what stretch does the figure it sets stay in force?
Show answer
Answer A: From the sign onward, in every lane, until another sign sets a different figure
The figure governs the road from the sign onward and binds every lane, and it stays in force until a later sign sets a different one.
-
39. What does electronic stability control do that ordinary brakes cannot?
Show answer
Answer C: It brakes single wheels to bring the vehicle back on your intended path
The system compares where you have steered with where the vehicle is actually going, then brakes individual wheels to pull it back into line.
-
40. What is the purpose of a wide solid white line painted straight across your lane on the approach to an intersection?
Show answer
Answer C: It shows the point where a required stop must be made
A stop line indicates the point at which the stop required by a signal or a stop sign is to be made, ahead of the crosswalk and the intersection.
-
41. What does Michigan property protection insurance cover?
Show answer
Answer C: Up to 1 million dollars for damage the vehicle does to property in Michigan
Property protection insurance pays up to 1 million dollars for damage the insured vehicle does in Michigan to other people's property, including buildings, fences and properly parked vehicles.
-
42. Besides the traffic behind you, what else must you check before moving into the next lane?
Show answer
Answer D: That there is room ahead in the new lane for your normal following distance
Moving into a gap that is too short leaves you tailgating the vehicle ahead with a vehicle close behind you.
-
43. You have a steady green ball to turn left, and the oncoming traffic gets a green left arrow. What does that mean for you?
Show answer
Answer C: Oncoming vehicles will turn across your path, so you must wait
A green ball is permissive, so when the oncoming side receives a protected arrow those vehicles have priority and you must yield until they clear.
-
44. Loose items slide around your car and rattle every time you brake. What is the answer?
Show answer
Answer C: Secure them before you start driving
Sliding objects pull your attention and can roll under the pedals, so stow them in the trunk or wedge them before the trip rather than chasing them during it.
-
45. You are about to pass a large truck on a two-lane highway. Which practice is correct?
Show answer
Answer A: Finish the pass without delay and expect wind turbulence beside the truck
Lingering beside a truck keeps you in its blind spot and exposes you to air turbulence. Pass on the left, keep moving, and move back only when you can see the whole truck in your mirror.
-
46. How can you keep space at the sides of your vehicle in heavy traffic?
Show answer
Answer D: Drive in the gaps between the other vehicles rather than beside them
Travelling in the open spaces rather than alongside others keeps a way out open on at least one side.
-
47. Many signs use a symbol instead of words. The main advantage is that a symbol
Show answer
Answer C: can be read from farther away and by more people
A symbol is recognized at greater distance than a line of text and does not depend on the reader knowing English.
-
48. You drive away and the car feels sluggish while a warning light glows on the dash. What is a likely cause?
Show answer
Answer B: The parking brake was left partly applied
Driving with the parking brake partly on overheats the rear brakes and can ruin them, so release it fully and check that the warning light goes out.
-
49. You have a green light and are turning right while people are crossing the street you want to enter. Who goes first?
Show answer
Answer B: The pedestrians, and you wait until they are clear of your path
A green light permits the turn but does not remove the duty to yield to pedestrians already crossing the street you are turning into.
-
50. Which of these is true of the roadway a driver is being sent onto here?
Show answer
Answer D: Its own signs, signals and speed limits govern for the whole way around
The alternate route is an ordinary public road, so every control posted on it governs as usual; being sent that way grants no extra priority and no relief from the limits in force there.