South Dakota DPS Permit Practice Test 47
- Questions25
- Correct to pass20
- Passing score80%
- Minimum age14 years
-
1. You reach a stop-controlled intersection at the same time as a driver on your left, but that driver is already moving through the crossing. Who goes first?
Show answer
Answer C: The driver who is already inside the intersection
A vehicle already in the intersection has the right of way, and the rule about yielding to the right applies only before anyone has entered.
-
2. The car ahead drifts across the lane line and back again several times. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer C: Assume that the driver is distracted or impaired, and keep well back
Drifting is a classic sign of a distracted, drowsy or impaired driver, and distance is your protection from all three.
-
3. When should headlights be switched on besides during the hours of darkness?
Show answer
Answer C: Whenever rain, fog, snow or dust makes it harder to see or to be seen
Headlights are as much about being seen as about seeing, so they go on whenever visibility drops.
-
4. The motorcyclist ahead of you keeps moving from one side of the lane to the other. What should you understand?
Show answer
Answer B: The rider is avoiding surface hazards and staying where drivers can see the bike
Riders shift their lane position to avoid debris, grease strips and potholes and to be seen. That movement is normal and never an invitation to share the lane.
-
5. The overhead signal above your lane changes to a steady yellow X. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer B: Prepare to move out of that lane
A steady yellow X warns that the lane is about to close, so drivers should get ready to vacate it in favor of an open lane.
-
6. You are approaching the crest of a hill and cannot see the road beyond it. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer C: Slow down and keep well to the right
Beyond a blind crest there may be a stopped vehicle, a cyclist or an oncoming driver crossing the center line, so reduce speed and hold your own side.
-
7. What does the traffic law actually say about the right of way?
Show answer
Answer B: It says who must yield; no driver is ever entitled to take the right of way
The law describes who must yield. Right of way is something you give; insisting on it when another driver does not yield causes crashes.
-
8. The electric windows will not work as your vehicle sinks in water. What is the best option?
Show answer
Answer C: Break a side window with a hard, pointed object and climb out through it
Side windows are tempered glass and can be broken, while the laminated windshield cannot, and water pressure holds the doors shut.
-
9. You are traveling beside another vehicle on a multilane highway at nearly the same speed. Why is this a poor position?
Show answer
Answer B: You may be sitting in that driver's blind spot with nowhere to go if they move over
Driving alongside removes your side escape route and often puts you where the other driver cannot see you. Speed up or drop back to open space beside you.
-
10. A piece of farm machinery ahead of you is wider than its own lane. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer C: Hold back until you can see far enough to pass safely
Wide equipment leaves no gap inside the lane and may use part of the other side, so a pass needs a long clear view of the road ahead.
-
11. Your vehicle has broken down at night on a rural road and your phone has no signal. What is the safest thing to do?
Show answer
Answer C: Stay with the vehicle, keep the hazard lights on and wait for help
A lit vehicle is far easier to find than a person walking in the dark, and running the engine while you sleep risks carbon monoxide.
-
12. The vehicle you want to pass is traveling close to the speed limit. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer C: Stay behind, because a pass may not take you over the limit
The speed limit applies while passing too. If you cannot complete the pass without exceeding it, do not start the pass.
-
13. 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.
-
14. Under South Dakota's probationary permit system, what suspension applies to a minor under sixteen convicted of a felony or Class 1 misdemeanor traffic offense?
Show answer
Answer A: Suspension for 180 days or until the minor turns sixteen, whichever is longer
A felony or Class 1 misdemeanor conviction triggers a suspension of 180 days or until age sixteen, whichever period is longer.
-
15. A law enforcement officer is directing traffic and waves you forward while the signal facing you shows red. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer A: Follow the officer's direction and proceed
Directions given by an officer controlling traffic take priority over signals, signs and pavement markings.
-
16. If you must abandon a vehicle stuck on the tracks with a train coming, why do you move toward the train and away at an angle?
Show answer
Answer D: Because debris from the impact is thrown forward, away from the train
A train pushes wreckage down the track ahead of it, so walking toward the train and off to the side keeps you out of the debris path.
-
17. Under South Dakota's financial responsibility law, how can a vehicle owner whose license was suspended for a conviction avoid also having their vehicle registration suspended?
Show answer
Answer A: By already having given, and continuing to maintain, proof of financial responsibility on all their registered vehicles
If the owner has already given and continues to maintain proof of financial responsibility for all vehicles registered in their name, the registration itself is not suspended.
-
18. A short driver cannot get ten inches between the chest and the steering wheel airbag. What is the answer?
Show answer
Answer D: Move the seat back and tilt the wheel downward, or fit pedal extenders
Distance from the airbag is gained by moving the seat back and aiming the wheel at the chest, using pedal extenders if the pedals are then out of reach.
-
19. Roughly how far does a vehicle travel at 55 mph during the few seconds a driver spends reading a text message?
Show answer
Answer D: About the length of a football field
Sending or reading a message takes the eyes off the road for about five seconds, which at 55 mph covers roughly the length of a football field with nobody watching the road.
-
20. You are on a four-lane divided highway and a vehicle in your lane is stopped waiting to turn left across the median. What is the normal way past?
Show answer
Answer D: Slow down and go by in the lane to the right when it is clear
On a multilane road the free lane beside you is the lawful place to go past a vehicle waiting to turn, and the median is not part of the roadway.
-
21. 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.
-
22. The driver of a slow farm vehicle moves partly onto the shoulder and waves you past. Who is responsible for the pass?
Show answer
Answer A: You are, so pass only if you can see that the road is clear
A courtesy wave is not a traffic control, and the driver who changes lanes is the one answerable for the maneuver.
-
23. Is it acceptable to watch a video on a screen positioned where you can see it while driving?
Show answer
Answer B: No, the screen pulls your eyes and attention away from the road
Moving pictures are among the strongest visual distractions. Video screens must be out of the driver's view while the vehicle is moving.
-
24. What does this sign warn a driver about?
Show answer
Answer A: Traffic from another roadway will enter the same lane ahead
Two traffic streams come together into one lane beyond this point, so drivers on both roadways have to adjust speed and spacing to fit together.
-
25. What condition does this sign warn a driver about?
Show answer
Answer B: Another road joins the road being traveled, from one side
It announces a side road entering the main roadway, so the driver should expect vehicles waiting to pull out and other vehicles slowing to turn in.