Iowa DOT Permit Practice Test 45
- Questions25
- Correct to pass20
- Passing score80%
- Minimum age14 years
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1. Who may supervise an Iowa instruction permit holder under eighteen who is driving a car?
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Answer C: A parent, guardian, family member at least twenty-one, instructor, or person at least twenty-five with written parental permission
Iowa Code section 321.180B lists the parent, guardian or custodian, an immediate family member at least twenty-one, an approved driver education instructor, or a person at least twenty-five with written permission, occupying the seat beside the driver.
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2. What does a tire with worn tread do on a wet road?
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Answer B: It loses grip and it hydroplanes at a lower speed than a good tire
Tread grooves carry water away from the contact patch, and a worn tire cannot do that, so it floats on the water sooner.
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3. You are hosting a party and a guest who has been drinking wants to drive home. What should you do?
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Answer D: Stop serving and arrange a ride or a bed
Only time removes alcohol, so a host who wants to prevent a crash has to remove the driving, not try to speed up sobering that cannot be sped up.
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4. What is the safest way to pass a bicyclist on a road with two lanes going your way?
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Answer D: Change lanes completely, as you would for a car
A bicycle is entitled to the room a vehicle needs, and moving into the next lane gives the rider space to swerve around a drain or a pothole.
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5. A police officer in the intersection raises a hand toward you although your signal is green. What should you do?
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Answer B: Stop and wait for the officer to wave you on
An officer directing traffic overrides signals and signs, and drivers must follow the officer even when the light says otherwise.
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6. 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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7. You are turning right on a red light where that is permitted. What does the law require first?
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Answer B: A full stop, then yielding to traffic and pedestrians
A right turn on red is allowed only after stopping completely and giving way to everyone who has the green, including people in the crosswalk.
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8. What license sanction does Iowa impose for a move over violation that damages another person's property but injures nobody?
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Answer D: A ninety-day suspension
Iowa Code section 321.323A requires the department to suspend the violator's driving privileges for ninety days when the violation caused property damage but no bodily injury or death.
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9. Red pavement markings are used on a roadway to show that
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Answer A: it must not be entered from that direction
Red markings identify a roadway that is not to be entered or used, and they also mark the pavement of truck escape ramps.
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10. What can a loose or doubled up floor mat on the driver side cause?
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Answer A: It can slide forward and trap the accelerator pedal down
An unsecured mat, or a second mat laid over the first, can slip forward and hold the accelerator open. Use the mat clips and never stack mats.
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11. A snow squall cuts visibility to almost nothing while you are on a highway. What must you not do?
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Answer D: Stop in a travel lane and wait for the squall to blow through
A vehicle stopped in a lane in a whiteout is invisible until someone hits it. Slow gradually and keep moving until you can leave the roadway completely.
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12. You are joining a highway from a short ramp that has no acceleration lane. What should you do?
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Answer A: Stop or slow at the end of the ramp and wait for a safe gap
Without an acceleration lane there is no room to match speed, so you must yield at the end of the ramp and enter only when a gap allows it.
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13. At highway speed, a large object suddenly appears in your lane and there is open space beside you. Which response is often the most effective?
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Answer B: Steer around it, since at speed you can often turn quicker than you can stop
Above roughly 25 mph, stopping distance is long while a lane change takes only a moment. When space is available, a controlled steer around the hazard avoids the impact.
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14. A large truck is passing you on a two-lane road. What is the safest thing to do?
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Answer C: Keep right in your lane and ease off the gas a little
Staying in your own lane and easing off shortens the pass without forcing you onto a soft shoulder or into the truck's path.
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15. Rain is heavy enough that you have your windshield wipers running. What else should you switch on?
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Answer A: Your headlights, so you can see and others can see you
Rain heavy enough to need wipers also cuts how far away you can be seen, so the headlights belong on. Many states write this into law as a wipers on, lights on rule.
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16. What fine does Iowa attach to driving while a license is denied, canceled, suspended, or revoked?
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Answer D: Not less than two hundred fifty dollars nor more than one thousand five hundred dollars
Iowa Code section 321.218 makes the offense a simple misdemeanor and requires a fine of not less than two hundred fifty dollars nor more than one thousand five hundred dollars.
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17. A sign with a brown background and a white legend guides road users to
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Answer B: parks, campgrounds and other recreational or cultural sites
Brown is reserved for recreational and cultural interest area signing, such as parks, historic sites and scenic areas.
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18. You have parked but your car sits across the line into the next space. What should you do?
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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.
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19. A driver passes this sign on an entrance ramp while merging onto a freeway. Who has priority?
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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.
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20. The light ahead is green, but traffic beyond the intersection is backed up so far that you could not clear it. What is the correct action?
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Answer D: Wait behind the stop line until there is room on the far side
Entering an intersection you cannot clear blocks cross traffic and pedestrians, so you should hold your position until space opens on the other side.
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21. What does a flashing yellow traffic light mean?
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Answer B: Slow down and proceed with caution
A flashing yellow lets you enter the intersection cautiously after yielding to pedestrians and to conflicting traffic that is already there.
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22. What alcohol concentration will cause the Iowa DOT to revoke the license of a driver under 21?
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Answer B: .02 or more
Iowa Code section 321J.2A prohibits a person under the age of twenty-one from operating with an alcohol concentration of .02 or more and requires revocation of the license.
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23. What is the what if habit of a defensive driver?
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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.
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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. A signal beside a fire station stays dark until apparatus is about to leave, when it shows yellow and then red. What must a driver do?
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Answer B: Stop on the red and wait until the signal goes dark again
An emergency vehicle signal is a real traffic signal, so its red indication must be obeyed while the apparatus pulls out into the street.