Mississippi DPS Permit Practice Test 35
- Questions30
- Correct to pass24
- Passing score80%
- Minimum age15 years
-
1. What may a Mississippi court impose for a first conviction of reckless driving?
Show answer
Answer B: A fine of $5.00 to $100.00, or imprisonment for up to thirty days
Mississippi punishes a first reckless driving conviction with a fine of not less than five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, or imprisonment for not more than thirty days.
-
2. You have parked but your car sits across the line into the next space. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer B: Pull out and park again fully inside one space
A car over the line takes a space away from someone else and leaves too little room for the doors of the vehicles beside it.
-
3. At 45 mph you look at a navigation screen for four seconds. Roughly how far do you travel unseeing?
Show answer
Answer D: About 260 feet
At 45 mph you cover roughly 66 feet a second, so four seconds on a screen is around 260 feet of road that you never looked at.
-
4. You receive a phone call that you feel you must answer while driving. What is the safest way to take it?
Show answer
Answer D: Pull off the road, stop in a safe place and then answer
No call is worth a crash. Stopping in a safe location removes the distraction completely, while every other option divides your attention.
-
5. You have just had bad news and you feel very upset. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer B: Wait until you have calmed down, or else let somebody else drive
Strong emotion takes attention away from the road as surely as alcohol or fatigue, so it is a reason not to drive yet.
-
6. How does a full load of passengers and luggage affect your braking?
Show answer
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.
-
7. Why is wearing headphones over both ears a problem while driving?
Show answer
Answer D: You may not hear horns, sirens or other warning sounds
Hearing is part of your awareness of traffic. Covering both ears blocks emergency sirens, horns and the sound of an approaching vehicle you cannot yet see.
-
8. The center line beside your lane is a broken yellow line. What does it allow?
Show answer
Answer D: You may cross into the opposing lane to pass when it is safe and clear
A broken yellow center line marks a passing zone where traffic in that direction may cross into the opposing lane to pass when the way ahead is clear.
-
9. What is the safest way to handle an unrestrained pet or a child who needs attention while you are driving?
Show answer
Answer D: Secure pets before the trip and pull over safely before attending to a child
A loose animal or an urgent situation in the back seat can capture a driver's attention completely, so restrain pets beforehand and stop in a safe place when someone needs help.
-
10. Someone appears seriously injured after a crash. What should you generally do?
Show answer
Answer C: Call for emergency help and avoid moving the person unless there is an immediate danger such as fire
Moving an injured person can worsen spinal or internal injuries, so summon trained help and leave the person in place unless staying there is more dangerous than moving.
-
11. A separate right-turn lane leads onto the cross street and carries a yield sign. What does it require?
Show answer
Answer D: Slowing and giving way to traffic and people, stopping if needed
A yield requires you to slow, give way to traffic in the lane you are joining and to pedestrians, and stop only if that is what safety demands.
-
12. You want to turn left at an intersection with no signs or signals and a vehicle is coming straight toward you from the opposite direction. What must you do?
Show answer
Answer C: Yield and turn after the oncoming vehicle has passed
A driver turning left always gives way to oncoming traffic that is close enough to be a hazard, whether or not the intersection is controlled.
-
13. You need to reverse direction on a busy street. Which choice is usually safest?
Show answer
Answer D: Driving around the block and using the intersections instead
Going around the block uses normal turns at controlled intersections instead of stopping across live traffic lanes.
-
14. 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.
-
15. Besides a heavier fine, what does Mississippi add after a second conviction within five years for passing a stopped school bus?
Show answer
Answer A: A ninety-day suspension of the driver's license and driving privileges
On a second or subsequent conviction within five years the Commissioner of Public Safety must suspend the driver's license for ninety days once the court abstract arrives.
-
16. Why is dusk one of the harder times of day to drive?
Show answer
Answer B: The failing light blurs shapes into the background
In fading light there is not enough contrast to pick objects out, yet it is not dark enough for headlights to do the work, so pedestrians and cyclists disappear.
-
17. Your wiper blades smear the windshield instead of clearing it. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer C: Replace the blades, because smearing means that the rubber is worn
Worn or hardened rubber cannot wipe cleanly, and blades are cheap compared with driving without a clear view.
-
18. The brake pedal goes to the floor and the vehicle does not slow. What should you try first?
Show answer
Answer C: Pump the pedal quickly to try to build pressure
Most vehicles have a split braking system, so rapid pumping can often build enough pressure to slow you. If it does not, use the parking brake gradually.
-
19. The vehicle ahead of you has pulled out to pass a truck. May you follow it out and pass as well?
Show answer
Answer B: No, wait until it is done and judge the road for yourself
You cannot see past the vehicle ahead of you, and if it has to abort the pass there is nowhere for either of you to go.
-
20. The stability control warning light flashes while you are driving through a curve. What does it mean?
Show answer
Answer A: The system is actively working to keep the vehicle under control, so slow down
A flashing stability control light means the system is braking individual wheels because you are near the limit of grip. Ease off and drive more gently.
-
21. Which of these is an early warning that you are too tired to keep driving?
Show answer
Answer C: Not remembering the last few miles you drove
Memory gaps, repeated yawning, heavy eyelids and drifting are the body signaling that sleep is winning, and they mean stop rather than push on.
-
22. What does a broken line indicate, whatever color it is painted?
Show answer
Answer C: That crossing it is permitted
A broken line always describes a permissive condition, and the color then tells the driver whether the traffic beyond it runs the same way or the opposite way.
-
23. You are behind three slow vehicles on a two-lane road and the way ahead looks clear. What is the sound decision?
Show answer
Answer D: Pass one vehicle at a time, if the road allows it
Passing several vehicles in one move keeps you in the oncoming lane far too long and leaves nowhere to go if a vehicle appears.
-
24. You come up behind a group of cyclists riding two abreast on a narrow rural road. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer A: Wait for a clear stretch and pass them as one group
Passing a group as a single unit when the way ahead is clear is safer than several rushed passes, and cutting through the group leaves nobody any escape room.
-
25. What does the implied consent law mean for drivers?
Show answer
Answer D: By driving, you have agreed to a chemical test if lawfully arrested for impaired driving
Holding a license and driving on public roads is treated as consent to breath, blood or urine testing when an officer has grounds to arrest you. Refusing normally brings its own license penalties.
-
26. 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.
-
27. What must a driver be ready for beyond this sign?
Show answer
Answer C: Vehicles approaching from the opposite direction in the next lane over
The separation between the two directions runs out, so from that point oncoming vehicles share the same pavement and the driver has to keep right.
-
28. A tow truck with flashing amber lights is loading a car on the shoulder ahead. How should you treat it?
Show answer
Answer B: Give it the same room as an emergency vehicle
Tow operators, utility crews and highway workers face the same danger from passing traffic, so move over or slow down for their flashing amber lights too.
-
29. What is wrong with steering through a turn using the palm of one hand on the wheel?
Show answer
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.
-
30. You make eye contact with a driver waiting to pull out of a side street. What should you assume?
Show answer
Answer D: The driver may still not have seen you, so stay ready to slow or stop
Drivers can look directly at you and still not register your vehicle, especially a small one. Eye contact helps, but never rely on it.