New Hampshire NH DMV Permit Practice Test 16

  • Questions40
  • Correct to pass32
  • Passing score80%
  • Minimum age16 years

Minimum age: 16 years, after an approved driver education program

40 questions. Pick an answer to see if it is right and why; you need 32 correct answers to pass.

  1. 1. After completing a turn you notice your signal is still flashing. What should you do?

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    Answer A: Switch it off at once, before other drivers act on it

    A signal left on after a turn is a false message, and drivers waiting to pull out may move into your path because of it.

  2. 2. You drive onto a section where the top layer has been milled off and the surface is grooved. How will it feel?

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    Answer C: The steering may wander, so hold the wheel firmly and slow down

    Grooves cut into the pavement tug at the tires and make the steering feel restless. A firm grip and a lower speed keep the vehicle tracking straight.

  3. 3. At night you are waiting to turn left and can see only the headlights of an approaching vehicle. Why should you allow a bigger margin?

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    Answer D: Because lights alone make speed and distance hard to judge

    With no other visual cues, two points of light give you very little information about how fast the vehicle is closing, so leave extra margin.

  4. 4. You are approaching a horse and rider on a country road. What about your horn?

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    Answer C: Do not sound it at all, because the noise can frighten the animal

    A startled horse is dangerous to its rider and to you, so pass wide and slow and leave the horn alone.

  5. 5. A United States numbered route is normally marked with

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    Answer C: black numerals on a white shield

    The U.S. route marker is a white shield carrying black numerals, which sets it apart at a glance from the red, white and blue Interstate shield.

  6. 6. A dust storm is blowing across the highway ahead of you. What is the recommended response?

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    Answer B: Leave the road if you can, park well clear and take your foot off the brake

    Get well off the pavement, switch the lights off and keep your foot off the brake, so drivers still on the road do not follow your tail lights off the highway.

  7. 7. A large truck ahead of you in a roundabout is using part of both lanes as it goes around. What is the correct response?

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    Answer B: Stay back and give it room until it leaves the roundabout

    Long vehicles need extra width to get around the central island, so drivers behind must hold back rather than share the space beside them.

  8. 8. You have passed a large truck and want to move back into its lane. What should you see first?

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    Answer B: Both of its headlights in your rear-view mirror

    Seeing both headlights in your mirror means you are far enough ahead to be out of the truck's front no-zone before you move over.

  9. 9. A square sign with a red field, a wide white horizontal bar and the words DO NOT ENTER tells a driver that

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    Answer B: the roadway ahead must not be entered from that point

    The do not enter sign is posted at the end of a one-way roadway or ramp to keep traffic from driving into it against the flow.

  10. 10. Someone stops drinking heavily at two in the morning and drives to work at eight. What is true?

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    Answer A: They may still be impaired and over the limit

    The body removes alcohol at a slow, fixed rate, so a heavy night can leave a driver impaired well into the next morning no matter how they feel.

  11. 11. A yellow diamond showing arrows arranged in a circle warns of

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    Answer B: a circular intersection such as a roundabout ahead

    The circular intersection warning sign announces a roundabout or traffic circle so drivers can slow down and prepare to yield to traffic already circulating.

  12. 12. Which occupants must be restrained under New Hampshire law?

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    Answer D: Anyone under 18, with children under 7 and shorter than 57 inches in an approved child restraint

    New Hampshire requires everyone under 18 to be restrained by a safety belt or child safety seat, and a child under 7 who is shorter than 57 inches must ride in an approved child passenger restraint.

  13. 13. A yellow diamond shows the two edges of the road pinching toward each other. What does it mean?

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    Answer B: The pavement gets narrower but the lanes continue

    The road narrows sign warns that the traveled way becomes tighter, leaving less room beside passing vehicles even though no lane is dropped.

  14. 14. On a two-way street, where and how should you park at the curb?

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    Answer C: On the right side, facing the way traffic moves

    On a two-way street you must park on the right, headed in the direction of travel; parking facing traffic is prohibited.

  15. 15. When is a driver or rider most likely to need hand and arm signals instead of the vehicle turn signal lamps?

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    Answer D: When the lamps have failed or cannot be seen because of glare or a load

    Hand and arm signals replace or reinforce the lamps whenever the lamps do not work or cannot be seen clearly by other road users.

  16. 16. Some states allow a left turn against a red light. Which movement is it?

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    Answer A: A left turn from a one-way street onto another one-way street

    The movement generally allowed on red is one-way to one-way, because the turn does not cross any lane of oncoming traffic; a few states also extend it to a two-way street turning onto a one-way street.

  17. 17. You want to move into the right lane just as an entrance ramp joins the highway at that point. What is the better choice?

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    Answer B: Wait until you are past the merge area so you do not squeeze the entering traffic

    The merge area is where ramp traffic has to find a gap, so adding a lane change of your own into the same space creates a conflict.

  18. 18. You come to a place where a storm has dropped a power line across the road ahead. What should you do?

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    Answer B: Stop well back, keep everyone away from it and report it to the police

    A downed line may be live and can energize the ground around it, so keep well clear and let the utility or the police handle it.

  19. 19. What must you do before changing lanes, in addition to signaling and checking your mirrors?

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    Answer D: Glance over your shoulder to check the blind spot the mirrors do not cover

    Mirrors leave an area beside and behind the vehicle that they cannot show, so a quick head check is needed before the vehicle moves sideways.

  20. 20. You have to leave a trailer parked on a slope. What extra step protects it?

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    Answer D: Chock the trailer wheels as well as setting the brake

    Chocks physically block the wheels, which is the only thing that still holds if a brake or a coupling lets go.

  21. 21. You are traveling at 55 mph on a rural road and come up behind a horse-drawn buggy. What is the main danger?

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    Answer D: You close on it very quickly because it moves at walking pace

    A buggy travels only a few miles an hour, so the gap closes far faster than drivers expect and there is very little time to brake once you see it.

  22. 22. What speed does New Hampshire law allow for a transponder-equipped vehicle passing through a toll booth or gate fitted with a transponder reader, other than an open road tolling lane?

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    Answer D: 25 mph

    RSA 265:60 sets 25 miles per hour for a transponder-equipped vehicle through an automated toll booth or gate, apart from open road tolling lanes.

  23. 23. May you stop in the striped triangle that separates an exit ramp from the freeway lanes?

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    Answer A: No, it is not a lane and stopping there is dangerous

    The striped gore area is not a travel lane or a shoulder, and a vehicle stopped there sits directly in the path of drivers correcting a late exit.

  24. 24. A driver reaching a stop sign is required to do what?

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    Answer D: Come to a complete stop and then proceed only when it is safe

    A stop sign requires a full stop before the stop line, crosswalk or intersection, after which the driver may go on once the way is clear.

  25. 25. May you park across the entrance to a fire station?

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    Answer D: No, an emergency exit must never be blocked

    Emergency vehicles must be able to leave the moment a call comes in, so their entrances and exits are kept clear at all hours.

  26. 26. The overhead signal above your lane changes to a steady yellow X. What should you do?

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    Answer B: Prepare to move out of that lane

    A steady yellow X warns that the lane is about to close, so drivers should get ready to vacate it in favor of an open lane.

  27. 27. A sign reads MINIMUM SPEED 40. What does it require of a driver?

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    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.

  28. 28. You are about to leave a roundabout when a pedestrian steps into the crosswalk on your exit. What should you do?

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    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.

  29. 29. From which lane should a permitted U-turn be started?

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    Answer A: The lane nearest the center line, the same one used for a left turn

    A U-turn is begun from the far left lane for your direction, the same position used for a left turn, so you do not cut across traffic beside you.

  30. 30. You are turning left at an intersection just beyond the crest of a hill. What is the added risk?

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    Answer B: Oncoming vehicles appear with very little warning and close quickly

    A crest hides approaching traffic until it is close, so the gap you thought was empty can fill in the time the turn takes.

  31. 31. Two vehicles reach a four-way stop at the same moment from adjacent roads. Who should go first?

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    Answer A: The driver on the right

    When two drivers stop at a four-way stop at the same time, the driver on the left yields to the driver on the right.

  32. 32. What change in the road does this sign announce?

    A yellow diamond showing one black lane splitting into two around a central island
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    Answer B: The two directions of travel are about to be separated, and the driver must keep to the right of the separation

    Ahead the roadway splits into separate one-way roadways on either side of a median, so the driver stays to the right of the divider and no longer meets oncoming vehicles.

  33. 33. You are on a four-lane divided highway and a vehicle in your lane is stopped waiting to turn left across the median. What is the normal way past?

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    Answer D: Slow down and go by in the lane to the right when it is clear

    On a multilane road the free lane beside you is the lawful place to go past a vehicle waiting to turn, and the median is not part of the roadway.

  34. 34. Your car is sinking after leaving the road into deep water and two children are in the back. In what order should you act?

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    Answer D: Free yourself from the belt first, then release the children, the oldest one first

    You cannot help anyone while you are still belted in, and the oldest child released first needs the least help getting out.

  35. 35. Freeway traffic ahead of you has come to a stop. Besides braking early, how can you warn the drivers behind you?

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    Answer B: By switching on the hazard lights for a few seconds

    A short burst of hazard lights is a recognized way to tell following traffic that the queue ahead has stopped, and it carries much further back than brake lights. Some states restrict hazard lights on a moving vehicle, so use them only for the moment you are slowing.

  36. 36. About how much alcohol can the body eliminate per hour?

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    Answer A: About one standard drink

    The liver removes alcohol at a nearly fixed rate of roughly one standard drink per hour. Drinking faster than that raises the blood alcohol level, and nothing speeds the process.

  37. 37. Cannabis is legal for adults in some states. What does that mean for driving?

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    Answer C: Driving while impaired by it is still an offense

    Legal possession has nothing to do with driving law, and every state treats driving while impaired by cannabis as an offense.

  38. 38. Where is passing prohibited even when no line is visible?

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    Answer D: On a curve or near the crest of a hill, at intersections and at railroad crossings

    Passing is prohibited wherever your view of oncoming traffic is blocked or where vehicles may cross your path, which includes hills, curves, intersections and rail crossings.

  39. 39. For an alert driver, about how long is the reaction time once a hazard has been recognized?

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    Answer A: About three quarters of a second

    Reaction alone takes roughly three quarters of a second for an alert driver, and perception takes about as long again, so a second and a half of travel is added before the brakes bite.

  40. 40. Unless a different limit is posted, what is the New Hampshire prima facie speed limit in a rural residence district or on a class V highway outside the compact part of a town?

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    Answer A: 35 mph

    RSA 265:60 sets 35 miles per hour as the prima facie limit in a rural residence district and on any class V highway outside the compact part of a city or town.