Indiana BMV Permit Practice Test 25

  • Questions50
  • Correct to pass40
  • Passing score80%
  • Minimum age15 years

Minimum age: 15 years with proof of enrollment in a BMV licensed driver education program; 16 years otherwise

50 questions. Pick an answer to see if it is right and why; you need 40 correct answers to pass.

  1. 1. How should you use your mirrors while another vehicle overtakes you on a multilane road?

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    Answer C: Follow it from the inside mirror to the side mirror and then to your own view

    Handing the vehicle from one mirror to the next keeps it in sight through the blind spot instead of losing it there.

  2. 2. Which ability does alcohol usually affect first?

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    Answer A: Judgment and self control

    Alcohol reduces judgment and inhibition before a drinker notices any clumsiness, which is why an impaired driver often feels perfectly capable while already driving worse.

  3. 3. What is the safe way to carry a dog in a car?

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    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.

  4. 4. You are waiting to turn left at a solid green light with no green arrow. Oncoming traffic is approaching. What should you do?

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    Answer A: Yield to the oncoming traffic and turn only when there is a safe gap

    A solid green light permits the left turn but does not protect it, so you must yield to oncoming vehicles and to pedestrians before turning.

  5. 5. You have finished parallel parking at the curb. How should the vehicle sit?

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    Answer A: Close to the curb, so that it does not stick out into the traffic lane

    A parked vehicle must sit close enough to the curb that it does not intrude into the path of passing traffic; the exact maximum distance is set by each state.

  6. 6. At an intersection that uses a lagging left turn, when is the left-turn arrow displayed?

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    Answer B: After the through movement has run

    A lagging left turn phase runs at the end of the green rather than the start, so a driver waiting to turn should not assume the arrow has been missed.

  7. 7. You are approaching a highway-rail grade crossing marked only with a crossbuck sign. What does that sign require?

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    Answer A: Yield to any approaching train and cross only when the tracks are clear

    The crossbuck is a regulatory yield sign, and a train can never stop or steer around a vehicle, so the driver must always give way.

  8. 8. A person in a wheelchair is traveling in the roadway because the sidewalk is blocked by construction. What should you do?

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    Answer B: Pass slowly with plenty of room, or wait

    A blocked sidewalk leaves the person no choice but the road, and a chair cannot move aside quickly, so pass wide and slow or wait for room.

  9. 9. What does Indiana's move over statute say about a driver who has complied with it?

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    Answer B: The driver still owes a duty of due regard for everyone using the highway

    The statute states that nothing in the section relieves a driver from the duty to operate with due regard for the safety of all persons using the highway.

  10. 10. When may an Indiana vehicle use tire studs that are not retractable?

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    Answer D: From October 1 to the following May 1

    Ice grips and tire studs may be used from October 1 to the following May 1, and the projections must not exceed three thirty-seconds of an inch beyond the tread.

  11. 11. You are driving through patchy fog on a highway. What should you be ready for?

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    Answer B: Sudden dense banks where visibility drops within a few car lengths

    Patchy fog can go from clear to nearly blind in a moment, so keep your speed low enough that a sudden bank does not leave you without room.

  12. 12. Which record makes an Indiana habitual violator suspension a lifetime suspension?

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    Answer B: Two judgments in ten years for causing a death with a prohibited alcohol concentration

    Two judgments within ten years for operating while intoxicated resulting in death, or for causing death with a prohibited alcohol concentration, bring a lifetime suspension.

  13. 13. What is sensible when you drive in an unfamiliar town for the first time?

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    Answer C: Drive a little slower and give yourself more time to read the signs

    In unfamiliar surroundings you need longer to take in signs, junctions and markings, and lower speed buys that time.

  14. 14. What is wrong with steering through a turn using the palm of one hand on the wheel?

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    Answer D: You have less control and cannot correct quickly if something goes wrong

    One-handed palming gives poor leverage and slow response. Use hand-to-hand or hand-over-hand steering with both hands so you can react instantly.

  15. 15. Below a speed limit sign is a smaller panel with white numbers on a black background and the word NIGHT. What does it show?

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    Answer D: The limit that applies after dark

    A night speed limit panel sets a separate legal maximum for the hours of darkness, and its reversed colors mark it as the night figure.

  16. 16. You are driving through a long curve on a road with two lanes in your direction. What is correct?

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    Answer A: Stay within your own lane all the way through, adjusting speed before you enter

    Wandering out of your lane in a curve puts you into the path of a vehicle you cannot see, and the slowing belongs before the curve rather than in it.

  17. 17. You are about to pass a large truck on a two-lane highway. Which practice is correct?

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    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.

  18. 18. A yellow diamond showing arrows arranged in a circle warns of

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    Answer B: a circular intersection such as a roundabout ahead

    The circular intersection warning sign announces a roundabout or traffic circle so drivers can slow down and prepare to yield to traffic already circulating.

  19. 19. Four vehicles reach a four-way stop from all four directions at the same instant. How is the deadlock resolved?

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    Answer C: Each driver yields to the vehicle on the right and they go one by one

    Yielding to the right applies to every driver, so the group untangles itself as drivers take turns rather than moving together.

  20. 20. You are driving slower than the general flow on a multilane highway. Which lane should you use?

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    Answer D: The right lane, keeping the left lanes free for faster traffic and passing

    Slower traffic must keep right so that faster vehicles and overtaking traffic can use the left lanes without weaving between lanes.

  21. 21. A sign on a long downgrade points to a runaway vehicle ramp. What is that ramp for?

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    Answer C: Trucks that have lost braking ability on the grade

    A runaway ramp is an escape lane of loose material that stops a heavy vehicle whose brakes have overheated or failed, so it must always be left clear.

  22. 22. How do extra passengers affect a driver, especially a new one?

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    Answer A: They increase the chance of distraction and of crashes

    Conversation, laughter and horseplay pull a driver's attention away from the road. Crash risk for young drivers rises with each additional passenger.

  23. 23. You are approaching a refuse collection truck working along your street. What should you expect?

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    Answer D: Workers stepping into the road around the truck

    Collection crews move constantly between the truck and the curb, often from where you cannot see them, so slow right down and pass only when the whole area is clear.

  24. 24. The road is icy and visibility is poor, but you are driving at the posted speed limit. Is this acceptable?

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    Answer A: No, because you may never drive faster than is safe for the conditions

    Under the basic speed rule a driver must travel at a speed that is reasonable for the actual conditions, so a legal posted speed can still be an unlawful and unsafe speed.

  25. 25. A crossing guard steps into the roadway ahead of this sign with one hand raised. What must the driver do?

    A five sided sign with a pointed top, a bright yellow green background and a black legend
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    Answer B: Stop and stay stopped until the guard waves traffic on

    An adult guard is controlling traffic at that crossing, so the instruction given by that person governs and the driver waits to be released.

  26. 26. A sign at the curb reads Tow-Away Zone. What does it mean for you?

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    Answer C: That a vehicle left there can be removed at the owner's expense

    In a tow-away zone the vehicle can be removed immediately and the owner pays the towing and storage charges to get it back.

  27. 27. A dust storm is blowing across the highway ahead of you. What is the recommended response?

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    Answer B: Leave the road if you can, park well clear and take your foot off the brake

    Get well off the pavement, switch the lights off and keep your foot off the brake, so drivers still on the road do not follow your tail lights off the highway.

  28. 28. A sign on a divided highway reads Keep Right Except to Pass. What does it require of you?

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    Answer A: Use the left lane only to overtake, then return to a lane on the right

    The left lane on such a highway is reserved for overtaking, so a driver who has finished a pass must move back to the right.

  29. 29. The green left-turn arrow ends and a steady red ball comes on for your lane, at an intersection where no turn on red is allowed. What must you do?

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    Answer D: Stop and wait, because no turn is allowed while the red ball is lit

    Once a red indication faces your lane and no turn on red is permitted there, the turn is over; only a vehicle already inside the intersection completes its movement.

  30. 30. Why are eating, drinking and personal grooming risky behind the wheel?

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    Answer B: They occupy hands, eyes and attention that driving requires

    Each of these tasks takes a hand off the controls and attention off the road, and a spill or a dropped item can pull the driver's eyes away entirely.

  31. 31. How should a long trip be broken up to keep the driver alert?

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    Answer D: Stop for a break every couple of hours and share out the driving

    Regular breaks and a change of driver are the only reliable answers to fatigue; caffeine only postpones it.

  32. 32. A center lane is bordered by a solid yellow line on the outside and a broken yellow line on the inside, with turn arrows painted inside it. What is that lane for?

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    Answer C: Left turns made by traffic traveling in either direction

    That marking pattern identifies a two-way left-turn lane, which drivers approaching from both directions may use to prepare for a left turn.

  33. 33. Cones and drums mark a shifted lane through a work zone. What should you do?

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    Answer A: Follow the path that they mark and stay inside it

    Channelizing devices define the temporary travel path, and the space on the other side of them belongs to the workers.

  34. 34. A curb sign reads No Standing. What does it allow you to do?

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    Answer B: Stop only long enough to pick up or drop off passengers

    No Standing bars waiting for any purpose except the brief moment needed to let passengers in or out, which is stricter than No Parking.

  35. 35. It is cold and the road looks wet, but you notice the tires of vehicles ahead are throwing up no spray. What does this suggest?

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    Answer B: The surface has frozen and is probably icy

    Water throws spray, but ice does not. A shiny road with no spray in freezing temperatures is a strong sign of black ice, so slow down and avoid sudden inputs.

  36. 36. On traffic control devices, the color green shows direction to a destination and also shows

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    Answer C: that a movement is permitted

    Green carries two assignments: guidance toward destinations, and the idea that the movement shown is allowed, as on a green arrow.

  37. 37. A signal stands part way up a freeway entrance ramp and turns green briefly again and again. How many vehicles does such a signal normally release on each green?

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    Answer A: One for each lane of the ramp

    A ramp control signal releases a single vehicle per lane on each green so that vehicles reach the merge one at a time instead of in a bunch.

  38. 38. A sign reads REDUCED SPEED LIMIT AHEAD. What does it tell you?

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    Answer D: A lower limit begins further along the road

    The sign gives advance notice so a driver can slow gradually, and the new figure takes effect at the speed limit sign that follows.

  39. 39. Which headlight setting should you use in dense fog?

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    Answer B: Low beams

    High beams reflect off the water droplets in fog and bounce glare back at you, while low beams aim downward and light the road without that mirror effect.

  40. 40. What does Indiana law make of a move over violation that seriously injures someone at an emergency vehicle?

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    Answer A: A Level 6 felony

    Failing to comply with the emergency vehicle move over duty is normally a Class A infraction, but it becomes a Level 6 felony where it causes serious bodily injury, catastrophic injury or death.

  41. 41. You and the driver facing you both have stop signs at a two-way stop. You are going straight and that driver is turning left. Who has the right of way?

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    Answer B: You do, and the turning driver must wait

    Between two opposing drivers who both stopped, the one going straight goes first and the left-turning driver yields.

  42. 42. Your light turns green while a pedestrian who started on the walk signal is still crossing in front of you. What must you do?

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    Answer D: Let them finish crossing the road before you move off on your green light

    A pedestrian who entered the crosswalk lawfully keeps the right of way until they reach the other side, whatever the signal now shows.

  43. 43. How can you tell a tire has reached its wear limit without measuring it?

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    Answer C: The wear bars across the grooves become level with the tread

    Molded bars sit at the bottom of the grooves. Once the surrounding tread has worn down to them, the tire has reached the end of its safe life.

  44. 44. You are stopped in slow traffic and a motorcycle comes up between the lanes. What should you do?

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    Answer D: Hold your position and avoid any sudden lane change

    The danger to a rider between lanes comes from a vehicle moving sideways without warning, so staying predictable is what protects them.

  45. 45. What should a driver do first after passing this sign?

    A yellow diamond showing two black lanes merging into one around a central island
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    Answer A: Move into the right-hand lane and stay there

    Traffic returns to two-way operation, so the driver keeps to the right of the centerline and stops treating the left side as available.

  46. 46. The red oil pressure warning light comes on while you are driving. What should you do?

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    Answer C: Pull over safely as soon as possible and shut off the engine

    Loss of oil pressure means the engine is no longer being lubricated and can be destroyed within minutes. Stop, shut down and check before restarting.

  47. 47. You are backing out of a space in a parking lot. Who has the right of way?

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    Answer D: Traffic already moving in the lane, and pedestrians walking behind you

    A driver backing out must yield to vehicles and pedestrians already using the lane, because backing is the movement with the poorest view.

  48. 48. A pedestrian starts to cross against a Do Not Walk signal, right in front of you. What should you do?

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    Answer D: Slow or stop and let the person reach safety

    Even when a pedestrian is crossing unlawfully, a driver must take reasonable care to avoid hitting that person.

  49. 49. A yellow lamp flashes above a warning sign at a sharp curve. What does it ask of a driver?

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    Answer D: Slow down and pass the point with extra care

    A warning beacon draws attention to the sign it is mounted with, and the message of the sign is what the driver must act on.

  50. 50. Why is this restriction used so often on a divided road just before a crest or a bend?

    A white square showing a U shaped arrow inside a red circle with a red diagonal line through it
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    Answer A: Because a vehicle turning across the median there stays hidden from approaching drivers until it is too late

    The maneuver needs a long gap and good visibility, and where sight distance is short an approaching driver has no time to react to a vehicle turning across the road.