South Dakota DPS Permit Practice Test 8
Test 8 of 10. Pick an answer for each question to see if it is right and why; your score appears at the end. You need 20 correct answers to pass, the same ratio as the real South Dakota test.
- Questions25
- Correct to pass20
- Passing score80%
- Minimum age14 years
-
1. What is the right speed for a normal right turn at a city corner?
Show answer
Answer C: Slow enough to hold your lane and stop for a pedestrian
A city right turn is tight and crosses a crosswalk, so the correct speed is one that keeps you inside your lane and still allows a stop.
-
2. What is the correct relationship between air bags and seat belts?
Show answer
Answer B: Air bags are designed to work together with seat belts, not instead of them
An air bag is a supplemental restraint that cushions one impact, while the belt keeps you in position so the bag can work and protects you in rollovers and secondary impacts.
-
3. 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.
-
4. 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?
Show answer
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.
-
5. May a visiting driver who is at least sixteen and holds a valid license from another state operate a vehicle in South Dakota without a South Dakota license?
Show answer
Answer A: Yes, as long as they carry their valid home state or country license and are licensed for that vehicle type
A nonresident at least sixteen years old with a valid home state or country license may drive in South Dakota any vehicle they are licensed for at home.
-
6. Unless a different limit is posted, what is the top speed on a South Dakota township road?
Show answer
Answer B: 55 miles per hour
State law caps township roads at 55 miles per hour, although a township board may establish and post different speed zones.
-
7. You are turning right off a street into a parking lot driveway that crosses a bike lane and a sidewalk. Who has the right of way?
Show answer
Answer D: Pedestrians on the sidewalk and riders in the bike lane
Turning into a driveway means crossing the paths of people who were already traveling straight, so you give way to both the bike lane and the sidewalk.
-
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. On an overhead guide sign, the small exit number panel sits above the left-hand end rather than the right. What does that placement tell you?
Show answer
Answer A: The exit leaves from the left side of the roadway
The exit number plaque is placed on the side from which the ramp leaves, which gives advance notice of the unusual left-hand exit.
-
10. Of the fee collected for an original or renewal South Dakota driver license, what happens to five dollars of it?
Show answer
Answer C: It funds the Division of Highway Patrol
State law earmarks five dollars of every original or renewal license fee for administering the Division of Highway Patrol.
-
11. What minimum liability limits must a South Dakota owner's insurance policy provide?
Show answer
Answer B: 25,000 dollars per person, 50,000 dollars per accident and 25,000 dollars property damage
South Dakota requires at least 25,000 dollars for bodily injury to one person, 50,000 dollars for two or more people and 25,000 dollars for property damage.
-
12. There is a driveway and a side street between you and the corner where you will turn right. When should you signal?
Show answer
Answer C: After passing the openings, so nobody pulls out in front of you
A signal switched on before an opening tells drivers waiting there that you are turning in, and they may pull out into your path.
-
13. You are parking on a hill where there is no curb, whether facing up or down. Which way should the front wheels point?
Show answer
Answer B: Toward the shoulder, so the vehicle would roll away from the traffic lanes
With no curb to stop the vehicle, the wheels are turned toward the edge of the road so that a runaway vehicle leaves the roadway instead of entering it.
-
14. An overhead lane signal shows a flashing yellow X above your lane. What does it mean?
Show answer
Answer D: The lane may be used only for a left turn
A flashing yellow X marks a lane that may be used only to make a left turn; a steady yellow X is the one that warns you to leave the lane.
-
15. What happens to a South Dakota minor's permit restrictions once the holder turns eighteen?
Show answer
Answer D: The restrictions no longer apply, though a conviction for violating them before turning eighteen can still support suspension or revocation
Reaching eighteen ends the GDL restrictions themselves, but a conviction for violating them while still a minor remains valid grounds for a suspension or revocation action.
-
16. What is the what if habit of a defensive driver?
Show answer
Answer C: Thinking through what you would do if a hazard ahead of you turned bad
Rehearsing an answer before the hazard develops means you act at once instead of spending time deciding.
-
17. What must a South Dakota driver do before a license suspended under the financial responsibility law can be reinstated?
Show answer
Answer C: Pay the reinstatement fee to the department
The statute requires payment of the reinstatement fee to the department before a financial-responsibility suspension can be lifted.
-
18. When are South Dakota drivers excused from stopping for a school bus that has its red signal lights flashing?
Show answer
Answer B: When they are traveling in the opposite direction on a highway with two or more lanes of travel in each direction
A driver approaching a school bus with flashing red signal lights must make a complete stop, except on a highway providing two or more lanes of travel in each direction when the bus is traveling in the opposite direction.
-
19. What is South Dakota's minimum light transmittance standard for tint on a windshield or front side windows, including its enforcement tolerance?
Show answer
Answer D: 35 percent, with a 9 percent enforcement tolerance
State law sets a 35 percent minimum light transmittance for front windows, with a 9 percent enforcement tolerance built into the standard.
-
20. On a South Dakota highway with multiple lanes in the driver's direction of travel, what must a driver do when approaching a vehicle stopped with amber, yellow, or blue warning lights?
Show answer
Answer D: Merge into the lane farthest from the stopped vehicle at least 300 feet before reaching it
Where multiple lanes run in the driver's direction, the law requires merging into the lane farthest from the vehicle at least 300 feet before reaching it.
-
21. A pedestrian steps off the curb in the middle of a block where there is no crosswalk at all. What is the legal position?
Show answer
Answer A: They must yield to you, but you must still avoid a crash
A pedestrian crossing away from a crosswalk yields to vehicles, yet every driver still has a duty to use care and avoid hitting a person.
-
22. A motorcycle ahead of you is weaving slightly as it crosses a stretch of grooved pavement. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer D: Give the rider extra room until the surface improves
Grooves, metal plates and loose material affect a motorcycle far more than a car, so back off and let the rider deal with the surface.
-
23. Who must be seated beside a South Dakota instruction permit holder who drives between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.?
Show answer
Answer B: The permit holder's parent or legal guardian
During those late hours the vehicle must be operated under the direction of the permit holder's parent or guardian, who has to occupy the seat beside the driver.
-
24. What must a South Dakota vehicle operator do with the vehicle's certificate of registration while driving?
Show answer
Answer C: Keep it in possession in the vehicle so a peace officer can inspect it
State law requires the registration to be in the operator's possession while the vehicle is being driven, so a peace officer may inspect it.
-
25. Why do many crashes happen on routes the driver knows very well?
Show answer
Answer D: Familiar roads let attention slip into routine
When a route is automatic the mind wanders and hazards get missed, which is why a well known road deserves the same attention as a strange one.