Iowa DOT Motorcycle Practice Test 37
- Questions25
- Correct to pass20
- Passing score80%
- Minimum age14 years
-
1. Where is ice most likely to form first on a cold day?
Show answer
Answer B: In shaded areas and on bridges and overpasses
Shaded spots stay cold longer and bridges and overpasses lose heat from below as well as above, so ice appears there before it appears elsewhere.
-
2. What does it mean to ride the clutch?
Show answer
Answer C: Holding the lever part way in while riding, which wears the clutch plates
Cruising with the clutch partly disengaged makes the plates slip against each other, which wears them out and removes engine braking.
-
3. You must leave your vehicle beside a narrow rural road at night. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer B: Get it right off the pavement and switch on the hazard lights
A vehicle left on an unlit rural road is very hard to see, so move it completely clear of the traveled surface and mark it with the hazard lights.
-
4. Is a helmet worth wearing on a short trip to a store a few blocks away?
Show answer
Answer C: Yes, since many crashes happen close to home at ordinary street speeds
A large share of motorcycle crashes occur on short, familiar trips at moderate speeds, and injuries at those speeds are still severe.
-
5. You have driven at 70 mph for an hour and then exit onto a town street. What is the common risk?
Show answer
Answer B: Your sense of speed adapts, so 35 mph feels slow and you drive too fast
After a long stretch at high speed the brain adapts, so town speeds feel unnaturally slow; check the speedometer instead of trusting the feeling.
-
6. In a work zone a flagger is directing traffic in a way that conflicts with the posted signs. Whom do you follow?
Show answer
Answer B: The flagger's directions
A flagger controls traffic through a work area that changes from day to day, and those instructions take precedence over the fixed signs and markings in that zone.
-
7. A set of reversible express lanes is closed off with gates and signs while it runs the other way. What must you never do?
Show answer
Answer C: Enter past a closed gate or a sign showing the lanes are closed
When reversible lanes are closed they may already be carrying traffic in the opposite direction, so entering past a gate can put you head-on into that traffic.
-
8. How does going a long time without sleep compare with drinking?
Show answer
Answer A: It can impair a driver in much the same way
Long periods awake produce slow reactions, poor judgment and lapses of attention that resemble the effects of alcohol, which is why fatigue counts as impairment.
-
9. A driver who is passing you cannot complete the pass because a vehicle is coming. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer C: Ease off the accelerator and make room for them to drop back in
The only place for the passing vehicle to go is the gap behind you, and easing off opens that gap immediately.
-
10. A snow squall cuts visibility to almost nothing while you are on a highway. What must you not do?
Show answer
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.
-
11. You have stopped after a crash. Why should the engines of the vehicles involved be switched off?
Show answer
Answer A: To reduce the risk of a fire starting around any fuel that has spilled
Crashes often break fuel lines, and a running engine is a source of ignition, so switching off lowers the risk of fire.
-
12. How long does Iowa revoke the license of a driver who refuses chemical testing and has no previous revocation?
Show answer
Answer C: One year
Iowa Code section 321J.9 sets the revocation for refusal at one year where the person has no previous revocation under the chapter, and two years where a previous revocation exists.
-
13. How long should a glance at a mirror or an instrument take?
Show answer
Answer A: A brief glance of about a second, returning your eyes to the road at once
Checks should be quick flicks of the eyes. At highway speed, a few seconds with your eyes off the road covers a distance long enough for a hazard to appear.
-
14. You are approaching the entry of a roundabout and a pedestrian is crossing the marked crosswalk on your approach lane. What must you do?
Show answer
Answer D: Stop before the crosswalk and let the pedestrian cross
Roundabout crosswalks sit a short distance back from the yield line, and drivers must yield there before they ever reach the circulating lanes.
-
15. Why does a rider on an unfaired motorcycle tire faster on a long highway ride than a driver would?
Show answer
Answer A: Constant wind pressure and noise drain energy hour after hour
Fighting wind pressure and enduring wind noise for hours is physically tiring, which is why wind protection and regular breaks matter on long rides.
-
16. You are stopped at the yield line of a roundabout when an emergency vehicle comes up behind you with lights and siren. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer A: Stay out of the roundabout and pull over to the right of your lane if there is room
Never enter a roundabout ahead of an emergency vehicle and never stop inside one; wait clear of the entry so the crew can get through.
-
17. You have shut the engine off with the kill switch because the throttle stuck open. What comes next?
Show answer
Answer D: Keep the clutch in, brake to a stop off the road, and find the cause
With the engine off and the clutch pulled in the motorcycle is only coasting, so brake to a stop clear of traffic and inspect the throttle cable and grip before restarting.
-
18. As a center two-way left-turn lane reaches an intersection, the markings change into a single left-turn lane. What does that mean for you?
Show answer
Answer D: From that point it serves one direction only, so use it just to turn left
Where the shared lane becomes a marked turn bay it belongs to one direction of travel, and only vehicles making that left turn may occupy it.
-
19. What is the first action Iowa's move over law asks of a driver approaching a stationary emergency vehicle displaying flashing lights?
Show answer
Answer B: Change into a lane that is not adjacent to the stopped vehicle, if it is safe
Iowa Code section 321.323A asks the driver first to make a lane change into a lane not adjacent to the stopped vehicle, and only to slow below the posted limit when that change is impossible, prohibited, or unsafe.
-
20. You are moving at walking pace through a crowded parking area. Which combination gives the steadiest control?
Show answer
Answer B: Steady throttle, the clutch held in the friction zone and light rear brake
Slipping the clutch in the friction zone against a steady throttle and a light drag of rear brake keeps power smooth and the machine stable below walking speed.
-
21. A rectangular marker with alternating black and retroreflective yellow stripes set at a slant is used to
Show answer
Answer C: mark an obstruction, with the stripes sloping down toward the side on which traffic should pass
This striped panel is an object marker, and the direction in which the stripes slope shows the driver which side of the obstruction to pass on.
-
22. An orange sign reading END ROAD WORK is posted beside the highway. What does it mark?
Show answer
Answer C: The point where the work zone restrictions stop
The sign is installed at the downstream end of the temporary traffic control zone to tell drivers that normal conditions apply again.
-
23. Enhanced reference location markers differ from ordinary mileposts in that they
Show answer
Answer B: carry the route number and a mileage figure to the tenth of a mile
An enhanced reference location marker adds the route designation and carries the mileage to a tenth, so the point named is far more precise than a plain milepost.
-
24. You are about to change lanes to the left when you notice a vehicle already overtaking you in that lane. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer A: Hold your lane and your speed, and change only after that vehicle has gone by
A signal asks for space but does not create it, and the overtaking driver has nowhere to go if you move across.
-
25. Which facility does this sign direct a traveler toward?
Show answer
Answer B: A hospital offering emergency care
This is the standard marker for medical care, used to lead a traveler to a hospital where emergency treatment is available.