Iowa DOT Permit Practice Test 2
Test 2 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 Iowa test.
- Questions25
- Correct to pass20
- Passing score80%
- Minimum age14 years
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1. Your exit from a three-lane highway is about a mile ahead on the right, and you are in the left lane. What should you do?
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Answer B: Start moving right now, one lane at a time
Plan ahead and change lanes one at a time well before the exit, so you never have to cut across several lanes at the gore.
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2. How does a driver become an habitual offender in Iowa under the graver of the two definitions?
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Answer B: Three or more of the listed serious offenses within a six-year period
Iowa Code section 321.555 defines an habitual offender as a person who accumulates three or more of the listed serious offenses, singly or in combination, within a six-year period.
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3. Your brake pedal sinks to the floor and the vehicle does not slow down. What is a reasonable sequence of actions?
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Answer C: Pump the pedal, shift to a lower gear and apply the parking brake gradually while steering to a safe spot
Pumping can rebuild pressure in a partly failed system, a lower gear adds engine braking, and easing on the parking brake slows the vehicle without locking the wheels.
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4. You are in the acceleration lane and the gap you were aiming for is now beside you. What is the best adjustment?
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Answer A: Change your speed a little to line up with a gap, then merge smoothly
The acceleration lane is for matching both the speed and the position of a gap, and small speed adjustments are what line the two up.
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5. How must Iowa secure a four-year-old riding in a registered passenger car?
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Answer D: In a child restraint system used according to the manufacturer's instructions
Iowa Code section 321.446 requires any child under six years of age who is not covered by the rear-facing rule to be secured in a child restraint system used in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions.
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6. A person with a guide dog is standing at the corner facing the street you are about to cross. What should you do?
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Answer D: Stop well back and wait quietly for them to decide
Blind pedestrians rely on engine sound to judge traffic, so stop back from the crossing and avoid the horn, which only confuses them.
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7. 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.
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8. What does the Iowa DOT do to the original suspension period when a driver is convicted of driving while suspended?
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Answer C: It extends the period by an additional like period or by one year, whichever is shorter
Iowa Code section 321.218 requires the department to extend the suspension or revocation for an additional like period or for one year, whichever period is shorter.
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9. At what alcohol concentration does a driver aged 21 or older commit operating while intoxicated in Iowa?
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Answer C: .08 or more
Iowa Code section 321J.2 defines operating while intoxicated to include operating a motor vehicle while having an alcohol concentration of .08 or more.
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10. You are driving on the through road of a T-intersection and want to turn left into the side road. Oncoming traffic is approaching on the through road. What must you do?
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Answer C: Yield to the oncoming traffic before you turn
The vehicle waiting in the stem of the T yields to both of you, but you still owe the right of way to oncoming through traffic before turning across it.
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11. What does Iowa require of a fourteen-year-old applying for a driver's license valid only for a motorized bicycle?
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Answer A: A vision test, a written examination on the rules of the road, and a moped education course
Iowa Code section 321.189 allows this license from age fourteen after a vision test or vision report and a written examination on the rules of the road, and adds an approved motorized bicycle education course for applicants under sixteen.
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12. A white arrow painted in your lane points only to the right, and a sign above the lane shows the same movement. What must you do?
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Answer C: Turn right from that lane
Pavement arrows used with lane-use signs are regulatory, so a driver occupying that lane must make the movement shown.
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13. Which speeding violations does Iowa leave out when counting six offenses in two years toward habitual offender status?
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Answer A: Speeding violations of less than fifteen miles per hour over the legal limit
Iowa Code section 321.555 excludes speeding violations of less than fifteen miles per hour over the legal speed limit, along with parking, equipment and safety belt matters, from the six-offense count.
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14. How much supervised driving must an Iowa permit holder document before receiving an intermediate license?
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Answer A: 20 total hours, of which 2 hours are after sunset and before sunrise
Iowa Code section 321.180B requires an affidavit showing twenty hours of street or highway driving, two of which were conducted after sunset and before sunrise.
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15. Your steering suddenly feels light and unresponsive as you drive through standing water. What should you do first?
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Answer A: Ease off the accelerator and keep the steering wheel pointed straight
Those symptoms mean the tires are riding on a film of water, and gently lifting off the accelerator lets them settle back onto the pavement. Hard braking or sudden steering while hydroplaning can start a skid.
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16. Under Iowa's electronic device law, where must the vehicle be before the driver may use a handheld device?
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Answer A: At a complete stop off the traveled portion of the roadway
Iowa Code section 321.276 allows use of an electronic device only when the vehicle is at a complete stop off the traveled portion of the roadway, or as far from the center as practicable if it cannot be moved off.
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17. A school crossing guard steps into the roadway and holds up a stop paddle. What must you do?
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Answer D: Stop and stay stopped until the guard and the children have left the road
A crossing guard directs traffic with legal authority; you must remain stopped until both the guard and the children are clear of the roadway.
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18. A truck ahead of you is spreading salt or grit on the road. What should you do?
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Answer B: Drop back so the material does not reach your car
Spreaders throw material backward and sideways, and following close means stone chips and a screen full of spray, so leave extra distance.
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19. For most Iowa drivers, how long is a regular driver's license valid?
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Answer D: 8 years
Iowa Code section 321.196 sets an eight-year license term for licensees between the ages of seventeen years eleven months and seventy-eight years, with a two-year term outside that age range.
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20. You are backing out of a driveway that crosses a public sidewalk. What should you do?
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Answer C: Stop before the sidewalk and check both ways
Walkers, runners and riders use the sidewalk at speeds that can bring them into your path in a second, so the stop and the look belong before the sidewalk, not after it.
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21. The traffic signal is green, but the crossing lights on the tracks inside the intersection begin to flash. What must you do?
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Answer C: Stop clear of the tracks and wait, even though the signal is green
Active crossing warning devices outrank the green indication, so you stop short of the rails and wait until the warning stops.
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22. Which effect appears as a drinker's blood alcohol level climbs well past the first drinks?
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Answer D: Loss of muscle control and steady steering
Higher levels of alcohol reach the parts of the brain that control movement, which shows up as clumsy steering, late braking and poor lane control.
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23. What is the maximum speed for an all-terrain vehicle lawfully operated on an Iowa highway?
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Answer B: 35 miles per hour
Iowa Code section 321.234A requires a person operating an all-terrain vehicle on a highway to hold a valid driver's license and to keep the speed at thirty-five miles per hour or less.
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24. Who may be issued an Iowa restricted work license?
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Answer C: A person between sixteen and eighteen who finished driver education and is not attending school
Iowa Code section 321.178 allows a restricted work license for a person between sixteen and eighteen who has completed an approved driver education course, is not attending school, and needs the license to keep a job.
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25. You are about to pull out of a driveway when someone on the sidewalk is walking toward it. What should you do?
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Answer D: Wait, because traffic on the sidewalk has the right-of-way
A vehicle entering the roadway from a driveway yields to people on the sidewalk as well as to traffic on the street.