South Dakota DPS Motorcycle Practice Test 35
- Questions25
- Correct to pass20
- Passing score80%
- Minimum age14 years
-
1. How is the yield sign shaped and colored?
Show answer
Answer C: A downward-pointing triangle with a wide red border and a red legend on white
The yield sign is a downward-pointing equilateral triangle with a wide red border and the legend in red on a white background, an outline used for no other message.
-
2. Why does a motorcycle with a manual fuel supply valve have an OFF position?
Show answer
Answer A: It stops fuel reaching the engine while the machine is parked
Shutting the valve keeps fuel from seeping past the carburetor into the engine or onto the ground while the motorcycle stands unused.
-
3. A driver who has been drinking has two cups of strong coffee. What has changed?
Show answer
Answer D: The driver is more awake but just as impaired
Coffee can make a drinker feel alert, but nothing except time removes alcohol from the blood, so a wide awake drinker is still an impaired driver.
-
4. You are about to pass another vehicle at night with your high beams on. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer C: Switch to low beams as you come up behind it and while you are alongside
High beams shining into the mirrors of the vehicle ahead blind the very driver whose reaction you depend on during the pass.
-
5. A small plate under a stop sign reads CROSS TRAFFIC DOES NOT STOP. What is it telling you?
Show answer
Answer D: Traffic on the cross street is not required to stop at all
The plate warns that the other road is uncontrolled, so you must wait for a gap instead of expecting anyone to take turns with you.
-
6. A broken white line separates your lane from the lane on your right. What does it permit?
Show answer
Answer C: Changing lanes when it is safe to do so
A normal broken white line marks a boundary between lanes traveling the same way that road users may cross when it is safe.
-
7. In a staggered group, where does the leader normally ride?
Show answer
Answer B: In the left portion of the lane
The leader takes the left portion of the lane, which gives a wide view of the road ahead and sets up the staggered pattern for everyone behind.
-
8. Rain is falling and the outside temperature reads close to 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Why is that dangerous?
Show answer
Answer A: The rain can freeze on contact and glaze the road with ice
Near freezing, rain landing on cold pavement can turn to a glaze of ice almost at once, so a road that looks merely wet may have no grip at all.
-
9. Why would this sign be installed on an approach?
Show answer
Answer B: Because the signal cannot be seen from far enough back for a driver to react in time
Advance notice of a signal is used where a crest, a curve, trees or a building keep the signal heads out of view until a driver is already too close to stop comfortably.
-
10. A speed limit sign carries a second panel reading TRUCKS 55. What does that panel do?
Show answer
Answer B: It sets a lower legal limit for trucks
A truck speed limit panel is regulatory, so trucks are bound by the lower figure while other traffic keeps to the main limit.
-
11. What is the main source of the noise that damages a rider's hearing?
Show answer
Answer A: Wind turbulence around the helmet, which rises sharply with speed
Wind noise around a helmet is loud enough at highway speed to cause permanent hearing loss over time, which is why earplugs are recommended even on quiet machines.
-
12. Once you are moving, which way of using a navigation device costs you the least attention?
Show answer
Answer B: Listening to the spoken directions
Voice guidance lets you keep your eyes on the road, while anything that needs the screen takes glances that add up over a trip.
-
13. You are driving on a rural road with no sidewalk. Where should you expect to meet pedestrians?
Show answer
Answer A: Walking toward you on your side of the road
Where there is no sidewalk, pedestrians are taught to walk facing traffic, so they appear on your side of the road coming toward you.
-
14. The word SCHOOL is painted in large letters across the roadway. What is it doing?
Show answer
Answer D: Backing up the signs marking a school zone
Word markings on the pavement reinforce a message that is already signed, and a driver looking at the road ahead cannot miss them.
-
15. Which rough check suggests that a helmet is a novelty shell rather than a certified helmet?
Show answer
Answer C: It weighs about a pound, far less than a certified helmet
A certified helmet weighs roughly three pounds because of its shell and thick liner, while a novelty shell is very light. Weight is only a clue, and the certification label is the real check.
-
16. A large insect splatters on your face shield and blocks part of your view. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer D: Keep control, look through a clear part, and clean it at the next stop
Taking a hand off the bars or riding with your eyes closed is far more dangerous than a partly obscured view, so keep riding and clean the shield when you are stopped.
-
17. What protective gear should a passenger wear?
Show answer
Answer C: The same protective gear recommended for the operator
A passenger is exposed to the same crash forces, weather and road debris as the operator, so the same head, eye, hand, body and foot protection applies.
-
18. A person using a wheelchair is waiting to cross at a corner ahead. How should you treat that person?
Show answer
Answer B: As a pedestrian with the right of way at the crossing
A wheelchair or a mobility scooter user has the rights of a pedestrian, so yield the whole crossing and wait until the crossing is finished.
-
19. Where should a passenger sit on the motorcycle?
Show answer
Answer A: As far forward as possible without crowding the operator
Sitting well forward keeps the passenger weight close to the center of the motorcycle, which helps it handle closer to normal.
-
20. A driver passes this sign on an entrance ramp while merging onto a freeway. Who has priority?
Show answer
Answer B: The traffic already traveling on the freeway
The sign places the duty on the entering driver, who must adjust speed and fit into a gap without forcing through traffic to brake or swerve.
-
21. You cannot avoid an obstacle lying in the road. At what angle should you try to cross it?
Show answer
Answer D: As close to 90 degrees as possible
Meeting the obstacle squarely keeps the front wheel from being deflected sideways as it climbs over the edge.
-
22. You are starting from a stop on a snowy, icy street and the drive wheels begin to spin. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer C: Ease off the accelerator and start again more gently
Spinning tires polish the surface and dig in. Very gentle pressure on the accelerator, and a higher gear if you have one, gives the tires the best chance to grip.
-
23. A yellow diamond showing the silhouette of a deer warns that
Show answer
Answer D: large animals may cross the road in that area
The sign marks a stretch where animals are known to cross, so drivers should reduce speed and scan both roadsides, especially around dawn and dusk.
-
24. You are about to leave a roundabout when a pedestrian steps into the crosswalk on your exit. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer B: Yield to the pedestrian and wait for the crosswalk to clear
Roundabout crosswalks sit on the entries and exits, and drivers must yield to pedestrians using them.
-
25. 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.