Michigan SOS Motorcycle Practice Test 42

  • Questions20
  • Correct to pass16
  • Passing score80%
  • Minimum age16 years

20 questions. Pick an answer to see if it is right and why; you need 16 correct answers to pass.

  1. 1. You are on a one-way street with two marked lanes. May you pass a slower vehicle on the right?

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    Answer A: Yes, using the right lane, provided that the move is safe and signaled

    On a roadway with two or more marked lanes in your direction, moving into the free lane and going by is a normal lane change rather than an unlawful pass.

  2. 2. A driver behind you on a two-lane road clearly wants to pass. Why should you not wave that driver past?

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    Answer B: You cannot see the whole road ahead for them and they may rely on your signal

    Waving another driver out invites them to trust your judgment of a road you cannot see well enough, and the decision to pass belongs to the driver making it.

  3. 3. A school bus ahead of you has its red lights flashing and its stop arm extended. What are you required to do?

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    Answer A: Stop and stay stopped until the lights stop flashing and the bus starts moving

    Flashing red lights and an extended stop arm mean children are getting on or off, so traffic must stop and wait until the bus withdraws the signals and moves again.

  4. 4. A load has been packed onto the seat behind you. What else must it not do?

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    Answer A: Restrict how you move on the seat or reach the controls

    Baggage that pins the rider in place or gets in the way of the handlebars and levers takes away the control the rider needs in an emergency.

  5. 5. Does wearing properly fitted earplugs stop a rider from hearing important sounds?

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    Answer C: No, they lower overall noise while horns and speech still register

    Earplugs reduce the wind roar that masks everything else, so riders wearing them often hear traffic more clearly, not less, while their hearing is protected.

  6. 6. Which of these is announced with the same family of signs as the facility shown here?

    A blue square with a white letter H
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    Answer A: A rest area for travelers

    A rest area belongs to the same motorist service series, which points travelers toward facilities such as fuel, food, lodging and medical care.

  7. 7. You are approaching a horse and rider on a country road. What about your horn?

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    Answer C: Do not sound it at all, because the noise can frighten the animal

    A startled horse is dangerous to its rider and to you, so pass wide and slow and leave the horn alone.

  8. 8. What has to be done with the helmet chin strap on every ride?

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    Answer B: Fastened snugly, because an unfastened helmet comes off in a crash

    A helmet only protects while it stays on the head, and an unfastened or loose strap lets it leave the head in the first moments of a crash.

  9. 9. A large panel mounted on a trailer at the roadside displays a flashing arrow pointing left. What does it tell you?

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    Answer B: Move into the lane to your left

    An arrow panel directs traffic out of a closed lane, so the arrow shows the direction you must move rather than the shape of the road ahead.

  10. 10. Why does a passenger often feel the cold sooner than the rider on a long ride?

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    Answer B: A passenger sits still and does not have the fuel tank to shelter behind

    The rider has a screen or a tank to break the wind and is busy operating the machine, while a passenger sits exposed and inactive and chills faster.

  11. 11. Studies of damaged helmets show that the most frequently struck area is which part?

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    Answer C: The chin and jaw area, which an open face helmet leaves uncovered

    The chin and face area takes a large share of helmet impacts, which is the main safety argument for a full face helmet over an open face one.

  12. 12. Where is the no passing zone pennant sign installed?

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    Answer A: On the left side of the roadway

    The pennant is placed on the left side of the roadway at the beginning of the no-passing zone, in the field of view of a driver who is thinking about overtaking.

  13. 13. Trees block the view along the tracks as a driver approaches this sign. What approach speed is correct?

    Two white crossed boards forming an X, with black lettering along each board
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    Answer B: Slow enough to stop before the nearest rail once a train comes into view

    Where the view along the track is obstructed, the only safe speed is one that still leaves stopping distance after a train first becomes visible.

  14. 14. What is the purpose of carrying a first aid kit in your vehicle?

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    Answer D: It lets you treat cuts and bleeding while the help is on its way

    A kit is for simple first aid such as controlling bleeding until trained help arrives, not a substitute for calling for that help.

  15. 15. The neutral light is on, but you are not sure the transmission is really out of gear. How can you confirm it?

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    Answer B: Release the clutch and rock the motorcycle to see whether it rolls freely

    A machine that rolls without resistance while the clutch is released is genuinely in neutral, which a burnt out or faulty neutral switch cannot tell you.

  16. 16. A yellow diamond showing two vertical arrows, one pointing up and one pointing down, warns that

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    Answer A: the road ahead carries traffic in both directions

    The two-way traffic sign warns that the roadway ahead is not divided and that vehicles will be coming from the opposite direction.

  17. 17. A small signal face beside a bikeway shows red, yellow and green lenses that each carry a bicycle symbol. Whom does it control?

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    Answer C: Bicyclists using that crossing or bikeway

    A bicycle signal face governs bicycle movements only, and people on foot at the same corner still follow the pedestrian signal.

  18. 18. Why is smooth, early braking better than hard, late braking?

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    Answer D: It keeps you in control and gives the driver behind more warning

    Braking early and gently keeps the tires well within their grip and gives following drivers time to react to your brake lights.

  19. 19. Where are signs of this kind placed at an intersection?

    A black rectangle with a white arrow and white lettering
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    Answer C: At the near right and far left corners, facing drivers on the intersecting street

    They are installed at the corners of the intersecting street so that a driver about to turn in sees the restriction before committing to the turn.

  20. 20. Which shape is used for the school advance warning sign and the school crossing sign?

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    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.