Iowa DOT Motorcycle Practice Test 30
- Questions25
- Correct to pass20
- Passing score80%
- Minimum age14 years
-
1. You are approaching the entry of a modern roundabout. Who must you yield to?
Show answer
Answer C: Traffic already circulating in the roundabout, which approaches from your left
Traffic in a United States roundabout circulates counterclockwise, so drivers entering must look left and yield to vehicles already in the circulating roadway.
-
2. A driver passes this sign and the signal beyond it is already showing green. What is the safest response?
Show answer
Answer C: Ease off the accelerator and be ready to stop, because an indication that has been showing for a while is about to change
A signal that has been displaying the same indication for some time is close to changing, so arriving at a controlled speed with the brake covered is safer than accelerating to beat it.
-
3. The leader of a group wants to pull the whole group out from a side road into busy traffic. What should the leader do?
Show answer
Answer B: Wait for a gap long enough for every rider in the group to enter
A leader who takes a gap that only fits one machine leaves the rest of the group either stranded or tempted to pull out in front of traffic.
-
4. Where is signing of this kind normally placed along a freeway?
Show answer
Answer D: Ahead of the interchange and again at the exit, so a driver can reach the correct lane in time
Guide information for an interchange is repeated on the approach and at the ramp, because a driver who learns about the exit only at the last moment has no room left for a safe lane change.
-
5. A sign reads MINIMUM SPEED 40. What does it require of a driver?
Show answer
Answer C: Not to drive below that speed when conditions allow
A minimum speed limit keeps unnecessarily slow vehicles from obstructing traffic, but it never overrides the duty to slow down for weather or congestion.
-
6. How should space management change with a passenger aboard?
Show answer
Answer B: Allow a greater following distance and wait for larger gaps in traffic
A loaded motorcycle accelerates and stops more slowly, so it needs more room ahead and bigger gaps to merge, to pass or to cross traffic.
-
7. You have begun to move into the next lane when the gap you were aiming for closes. What is the safest action?
Show answer
Answer C: Return to your own lane, cancel the signal and wait for a better gap
An unfinished lane change leaves you in a space that no longer exists, and the lane you came from is still yours.
-
8. Cones and drums mark a shifted lane through a work zone. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer A: Follow the path that they mark and stay inside it
Channelizing devices define the temporary travel path, and the space on the other side of them belongs to the workers.
-
9. Traffic is heavy and you find yourself riding level with a car in the next lane. What is the problem with staying there?
Show answer
Answer B: You sit in the driver's blind spot, so a lane change could hit you
Motorcycles disappear easily in a blind spot, so adjust your speed to ride ahead of or behind the other vehicle instead of beside it.
-
10. Why should riding gloves fit snugly?
Show answer
Answer C: So loose material does not dull your feel for the controls
Bunched or baggy material gets between your hand and the grip, so a close fitting glove keeps the feel for the throttle, clutch and brake lever.
-
11. Why can a motorcycle ahead of you slow down without any warning light showing?
Show answer
Answer B: The rider may slow by downshifting or rolling off
Riders often lose speed by closing the throttle or changing down, which does not switch on the brake light, so watch the machine itself and keep back.
-
12. At an intersection the signal flashes red toward you and flashes yellow toward the cross street. Who must yield?
Show answer
Answer D: You must, because the flashing red faces your road
A flashing red means stop and yield like a stop sign, while a flashing yellow lets the other road proceed with caution.
-
13. Railroad tracks cross the road at a slight angle. What is normally the safest way to cross them?
Show answer
Answer B: Ride straight across while staying inside your own lane
Riding straight ahead within your lane is usually safe on tracks that cross the road, because swerving to square them up can carry you into another lane or into oncoming traffic.
-
14. On traffic control devices, the color green shows direction to a destination and also shows
Show answer
Answer C: that a movement is permitted
Green carries two assignments: guidance toward destinations, and the idea that the movement shown is allowed, as on a green arrow.
-
15. A city transit bus ahead of you has stopped at the curb with its passenger door open. What does the law require of you?
Show answer
Answer D: Nothing special, but pass slowly and watch for people
The mandatory stop applies to a school bus showing red flashing lights, not to a transit bus, though a careful driver still slows for crossing passengers.
-
16. You are turning left from a one-way street onto a two-way street. How should the turn be made?
Show answer
Answer B: Start in the far left lane and finish just to the right of the center line
Left turns begin from the lane nearest the left edge of the street you are leaving and must finish on the right-hand side of the center line of a two-way street.
-
17. A yield sign is posted where an entrance ramp meets the highway. What must you do?
Show answer
Answer C: Give way to the traffic already on the highway and merge into a gap
The yield sign confirms that the merging driver is the one who must fit into the traffic stream rather than the other way round.
-
18. Why do groups agree on a set of hand signals before setting off?
Show answer
Answer B: Because engine noise and helmets make speech useless between moving machines
Riders cannot talk to each other while moving, so agreed signals for hazards, stops, fuel and single file keep the whole group informed.
-
19. Approaching the point this sign refers to, which hazard is most likely?
Show answer
Answer A: A vehicle pulling out from the entering road into the driver's path
The main risk is a driver on the entering road who misjudges the gap and pulls out, so covering the brake and being ready to slow is the sensible response.
-
20. Visibility drops suddenly and you decide to leave the highway. What is the safest way to do it?
Show answer
Answer A: Take the next exit or a wide pull off, well clear of the traffic lanes
Get right off the traveled way, and off the shoulder too if you can, because vehicles in poor visibility often drift onto the shoulder.
-
21. You have a green light and an ambulance with lights and siren enters the intersection against its red. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer B: Stop and let the ambulance go through
An emergency vehicle answering a call may cross against a red, and every other driver yields to it whatever their own signal shows.
-
22. You are slowing to turn right at an intersection and a bicyclist is riding beside your right side in a bike lane. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer D: Let the bicyclist go through the intersection before you begin the turn
Turning across the path of a bicyclist who is going straight causes the classic right-hook crash. The rider continuing straight has the right-of-way over your turn.
-
23. A driver extends the left arm out the window and points it downward toward the road surface. What is being signaled?
Show answer
Answer A: Slowing down or stopping
The left arm extended downward is the standard hand signal for slowing or stopping.
-
24. A left-turn bay opens ahead of the intersection with a solid white line beside it. Where should you enter the bay?
Show answer
Answer C: At the opening before the solid line begins
The solid line marks where lane changes are no longer intended, so you move into the turn bay at its opening rather than cutting across the line later.
-
25. The red lights on a stopped school bus go out and the bus begins to move away. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer B: Move off slowly and keep watching for children near the road
Children who have just left the bus may still be near the roadway or crossing behind it, so pull away gently and keep looking for them.