Vermont DMV Permit Practice Test 55
- Questions20
- Correct to pass16
- Passing score80%
- Minimum age15 years
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1. While you are still on an entrance ramp, where should your attention be?
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Answer D: Along the ramp ahead and back at the highway traffic in the mirrors and over your shoulder
A merge needs both halves of the picture at once: the ramp curving ahead of you and the traffic you are about to join behind and to your left.
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2. Your car begins to lose power on a freeway and you must stop. Where should you try to bring it to a halt?
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Answer A: As far off the right side of the road as you can get, beyond the edge line
A disabled vehicle should be moved completely clear of the travel lanes, on the right, so that traffic can pass without changing course.
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3. A pedestrian is waiting to cross ahead of you and you have slowed down. What helps most?
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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.
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4. What is worth carrying in the vehicle during a winter trip?
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Answer A: A blanket, a flashlight, a scraper and a small shovel
A winter kit keeps you warm and visible if you are stopped for hours, and lets you clear glass and dig the wheels out. Hot water can crack cold glass.
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5. You are passing a large truck on an open highway in a strong crosswind. What should you expect?
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Answer A: A push toward the truck, then a push the other way as you clear it
The truck shelters you as you go by and then releases you into the full gust, so the load on the steering changes twice during the pass.
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6. You have strapped luggage to the roof rack for a long trip. What should you expect?
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Answer D: A higher center of gravity, so take the curves and lane changes gently
Weight on the roof raises the center of gravity and makes the vehicle lean and respond more slowly to steering.
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7. Your vehicle stalls on railroad tracks and you see a train approaching. What should you do?
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Answer D: Get everyone out and run toward the train at an angle away from the tracks
Leave the vehicle at once. Running toward the oncoming train and away from the tracks keeps you clear of the wreckage, which is thrown forward in the direction the train is moving.
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8. A driver has to stop for a train at this sign. How far back from the nearest rail should the vehicle be held?
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Answer C: No closer than roughly fifteen feet
A train and its load overhang the rails, so stopping no closer than about fifteen feet keeps the vehicle outside the space the train actually sweeps.
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9. You have a small extinguisher and a fire has started under the hood. What is the safe way to use it?
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Answer B: Release the latch and spray through the gap without raising the hood at all
Opening the hood feeds the fire a rush of air, so spraying through the gap at the base of the flames is both safer and more effective.
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10. How do stimulant drugs such as amphetamines or cocaine typically affect driving?
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Answer D: They can make the driver overconfident and more willing to take risks
Stimulants create a false sense of alertness and encourage aggressive, risky driving. When they wear off, sudden fatigue can follow.
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11. Where is a U-turn most clearly unsafe and generally prohibited?
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Answer D: On a curve or near a hill crest, where other drivers cannot see you
U-turns are barred where approaching drivers cannot see you in time, such as on a curve or near the top of a hill.
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12. You notice that the driver ahead of you is holding a phone to the ear. What should you do?
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Answer C: Assume slower reactions and leave extra space, or else hold back
A driver on the phone reacts late and misses things, so the safe response is distance rather than a lesson.
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13. In which situation should you increase your usual following distance?
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Answer B: On wet roads, at night, in fog, when towing a trailer, or when following a motorcycle
Reduced traction, reduced visibility, a heavier load and a vehicle that can stop faster than yours all require extra space to keep the same margin of safety.
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14. A rectangular red sign with the white words WRONG WAY means that
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Answer C: the driver is already traveling against the legal flow and must not continue
The wrong way sign uses a white legend and border on red and addresses a driver who has entered a ramp or one-way roadway in the wrong direction, who should stop and turn around safely.
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15. You are calling 911 to report a crash. Which information matters most?
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Answer C: The exact location, how many people are hurt and any hazard such as fire
Dispatchers need to know where to send help, how much help to send, and what dangers the crews will meet on arrival.
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16. Why are motorcycles so often missed by other drivers?
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Answer C: Their narrow shape is easily hidden in traffic
A motorcycle presents a narrow outline that disappears behind pillars, mirrors and other vehicles, and it is harder to judge its speed and distance.
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17. After an hour on a hot highway your tire pressure reads higher than it did in the morning. What should you do?
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Answer D: Nothing, because pressure rises when tires heat up
Air expands as the tire warms, so a hot reading is normally above the cold setting. Bleeding air off would leave the tire underinflated once it cooled.
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18. Traffic is heavy and crawling where a sign warns that your lane ends and two lanes must become one. What is the best practice?
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Answer C: Use the lane to the end, then take turns merging one by one
In stop-and-go traffic the zipper merge, using both lanes up to the merge point and then alternating, keeps the queue shorter and traffic moving; in free-flowing traffic move over as soon as it is safe.
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19. A wide crosswalk you are turning across has a refuge island in the middle. What should you assume about people standing on it?
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Answer D: They may step off the island into your path at any moment
An island is a pause in a crossing, not the end of one, so treat anyone on it as a pedestrian who is still crossing.
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20. How does a full load of passengers and luggage affect your braking?
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Answer B: It lengthens the stopping distance, so you should brake earlier
More weight means more energy to get rid of, so a loaded vehicle takes longer to stop and needs earlier, gentler braking.