AK Permit Practice Test 14

All 20 questions in test 14

Every question below comes from the Alaska question bank on this page. Open a question to see the correct answer and the explanation. Nothing here is hidden behind a signup.

1. 1. In Alaska, how must a driver yield to bicyclists and other covered highway users?

   1. Yield only when the bicyclist waves a hand asking drivers to give extra space
   2. Yield to them just as to another vehicle, because road and right of way rules protect them
   3. Treat them as pedestrians who must always stop and wait for motor vehicles to pass
   4. Give way to them only while they remain inside a marked bicycle lane on the road
   Show answer

   Yield to them just as to another vehicle, because road and right of way rules protect them. Traffic law treats a person riding a bicycle as a road user with vehicle standing, so yielding duties match those owed to another vehicle at turns, merges, and intersections. Waiting for a wave reverses the duty, treating the rider as a pedestrian misplaces the rules that govern the encounter, and painted lanes do not fence the protection. Approach a rider with the same gap judgment you give a slow car, pass only with clear space, and never turn across a rider path on the assumption that the smaller vehicle will brake.

   Study this in the handbook: Pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists

2. 2. The flashing hand is up and numbers are counting down as you reach a curb in Alaska on foot. When may you start across?

   1. Whenever the numbers are still showing, even if traffic is already moving
   2. After drivers wave you forward from both directions of travel
   3. Only when drivers in both directions stop and wave you through
   4. Only if you can finish crossing before the timer reaches zero
   Show answer

   Only if you can finish crossing before the timer reaches zero. The countdown tells a pedestrian how much crossing time remains, and entry is allowed only when the whole crossing fits inside that time. Starting with seconds left that cannot carry you across puts you in front of moving traffic when the phase changes. Driver waves protect only their own lanes, and the flashing hand never invites a late start. Judge your pace honestly, and when the remaining numbers are too few, wait on the curb for the next walk indication.

   Study this in the handbook: Traffic signals and lane control signals

3. 3. Rain has just started on an Alaska road and a yellow sign shows a car with wavy skid marks behind it. What condition is it warning about?

   
   1. Pavement made slippery by rain, frost, or like conditions
   2. A rough shoulder that drops off sharply at the pavement edge
   3. Loose gravel spread across both lanes by a maintenance crew
   4. A steep downgrade where trucks must use a lower gear
   Show answer

   Pavement made slippery by rain, frost, or like conditions. Fresh rain lifts oil and grit into a slick film, and frost can polish a surface that still looks dry. The skidding car symbol tells you grip is reduced before your tires prove it. A shoulder drop off, loose gravel, and a truck downgrade each carry different symbols and responses. Slow down smoothly, leave more following room, and make steering and braking inputs gentle. Stopping distances grow quickly when the surface cannot hold the tires.

   Study this in the handbook: Road signs by color and shape

4. 4. In Alaska, the front seat holds more people than it was designed for and objects block the driver view. What does the law say?

   1. A person may not drive that way, with excess front occupants or view blocking objects
   2. Driving that way is allowed whenever passengers hold the loose objects for you
   3. Driving that way is allowed below 25 mph on quiet neighborhood streets only
   4. Only loose objects matter under this rule and occupant count never matters
   Show answer

   A person may not drive that way, with excess front occupants or view blocking objects. Control needs room for elbows, pedals, and wheel movement, and vision needs clear glass in every direction the vehicle may turn. Extra bodies in a seat built for fewer, plus cargo piled against sight lines, consume both margins at once. Passenger held cargo still blocks views in motion, slow neighborhoods still present children and turning traffic, and occupant overload crowds the driver even with empty windows. Load people and objects within the design of the vehicle, keep every sight line open, and make a second trip rather than a blind one.

5. 5. You pass a slower vehicle on its left on an Alaska highway and draw ahead of it. When may you return to the right lane?

   1. As soon as your front bumper clears its front bumper
   2. Only once your vehicle is fully and safely clear of theirs
   3. When that driver flashes headlights to invite you back
   4. After signaling for one second, regardless of the gap built
   Show answer

   Only once your vehicle is fully and safely clear of theirs. Returning early cuts across the passed driver escape space and forces braking in the vehicle you just overtook. The safe moment comes only when you are genuinely clear, with the passed vehicle visible and falling behind rather than pacing your quarter panel. Bumper tips, flashed invitations, and counted seconds are poor substitutes for that space. Hold your speed after returning so the gap keeps growing instead of collapsing behind you.

   Study this in the handbook: School buses, passing and railroad crossings

6. 6. In Alaska, you wait inside an intersection to turn left. How far forward should you wait?

   1. Wait for oncoming traffic without proceeding past the center of the intersection
   2. Wait beyond the center line so the remaining turn becomes shorter and quicker to finish
   3. Wait back at the entry line until every opposing lane stands completely empty
   4. Creep slowly past the center to pressure oncoming drivers into giving room
   Show answer

   Wait for oncoming traffic without proceeding past the center of the intersection. A waiting left turner belongs deep enough to see and be seen, yet no deeper than the center where opposing lanes and cross traffic sweep past. Rolling beyond that point shortens the turn by stealing space others need now. Holding at the entry until every lane empties wastes safe gaps and blocks traffic behind you, while creeping to bully a gap turns courtesy into force. Hold near the center with wheels straight, judge a gap that fits the whole turn, and go only when it opens fully.

7. 7. In Alaska, you make a three point turn where traffic approaches from both directions. Whom must you watch for and yield to?

   1. Approaching traffic including bicyclists and pedestrians from both directions
   2. Only motor vehicles that happen to be approaching from your left hand side of the street
   3. Only pedestrians who are crossing the street directly behind your vehicle
   4. Through traffic on the street only after you have already begun backing
   Show answer

   Approaching traffic including bicyclists and pedestrians from both directions. Turning around on a narrow street places your vehicle broadside to every user of that street, and each stage crosses someone path. Vehicles, bicyclists, and pedestrians approaching from either direction all hold claims you must respect before and during each movement. Watching one side, honoring only people behind you, or claiming priority once backing starts each leaves a live approach unguarded. Check both ways before every stage, sound the horn before backing when extra warning helps, and wait out any arrival rather than hurrying the arc.

8. 8. A driver wears only a lap belt in an Alaska crash and the shoulder strap hangs unused behind the seat. What injury remains likely?

   1. Broken ankles from the floor pedals moving during impact
   2. No injury, because a lap belt alone gives complete protection
   3. Serious injury from head and chest striking wheel and dashboard
   4. Ejection through the windshield in every frontal impact
   Show answer

   Serious injury from head and chest striking wheel and dashboard. A lap belt holds the pelvis, but the torso above it jackknifes forward into the steering wheel, dashboard, and windshield. Those head and chest strikes are the serious injuries the shoulder strap exists to prevent. Ankle injuries and universal ejection describe different failures, and complete protection from a lap belt alone is a myth. Wear the full belt system with the shoulder strap across the chest on every ride, front seat or back.

   Study this in the handbook: Safety belts and child seats

9. 9. A driver drinks coffee, eats a meal, and takes a cold shower after drinking in Alaska, then feels ready to drive. What has actually sobered them?

   1. Only time, as the liver burns alcohol and the kidneys and lungs eliminate it
   2. The coffee, because caffeine cancels alcohol in the bloodstream
   3. The meal, because food absorbs alcohol already in the blood
   4. The cold shower, because shock restores alertness to normal
   Show answer

   Only time, as the liver burns alcohol and the kidneys and lungs eliminate it. Nothing hurries the liver: alcohol leaves the body at a steady rate through burning in the liver and elimination by kidneys and lungs, and only time lowers the level. Coffee creates a wide awake impaired driver, food after drinking cannot reclaim alcohol already absorbed, and a cold shower shocks skin while reflexes stay slowed. Feeling ready is not being ready. Wait the hours the drinks require, or let a sober driver take the trip entirely.

   Study this in the handbook: Alcohol, implied consent and under 21 rules

10. 10. In Alaska, you enter a left turn only lane marked for one direction of travel. How may opposing traffic use it?

    1. Opposing traffic may share it for left turns
    2. Opposing traffic may pass through it when clear
    3. Opposing traffic may wait in it for a gap
    4. Opposing traffic may not use it for left turns
    Show answer

    Opposing traffic may not use it for left turns. Some left turn lanes serve only one direction, and the marking reserves that space accordingly. Opposing drivers may not enter it to turn, to pass, or to wait for a gap, however clear the lane may look. Sharing belongs to the two way design, which uses different arrows and signing. In the one way design, yield to oncoming traffic and pedestrians as you turn, and keep the lane free for the direction it was built to serve.

    Study this in the handbook: Traffic signals and lane control signals

11. 11. In an Alaska work zone, what do large flashing arrow panels tell drivers?

    1. That the whole road ahead is fully open again for travel at the normal posted speed
    2. Which side of the panel the detour route uses for truck traffic
    3. That lanes closed ahead will reopen to traffic later that night
    4. Which lanes to move into and that part of the road ahead is closed
    Show answer

    Which lanes to move into and that part of the road ahead is closed. A large flashing or sequencing arrow panel works day and night to steer drivers into lanes that remain open while warning that part of the road or street ahead is closed. It does not announce a fully open road at normal speed, it has nothing to do with rest area services, and flag persons may still be working beyond the panel. Begin the directed move early, match the speed of the open lane, and watch for workers after you pass the panel.

12. 12. A white sign with dark lettering orders you to keep a lane at an Alaska junction. What colors mark regulatory signs like it?

    1. White lettering spread across a green background panel
    2. Black lettering spread across a yellow background panel
    3. White background carrying black or red lettering
    4. White lettering spread across a blue background panel
    Show answer

    White background carrying black or red lettering. Regulatory signs speak with authority, and their uniform is black or red lettering on a white background. That pairing separates binding orders from green guidance, yellow warnings, and blue service information. Recognizing the white panel early tells you the message must be obeyed rather than merely noted. Obey it before reaching the point it governs, because a regulatory order applies even when the movement it forbids looks momentarily safe.

    Study this in the handbook: Road signs by color and shape

13. 13. In an Alaska roundabout, you pass the street where you meant to exit. What should you do?

    1. Stop in the circle and wait for a gap to back out
    2. Turn across the island to reach the missed street
    3. Leave by the next street even when it is unsafe
    4. Continue around the circle until you reach that exit again
    Show answer

    Continue around the circle until you reach that exit again. Missing an exit inside a roundabout costs only another trip around the island. Continue with the circulating flow and leave when your street comes around again. Stopping to wait or back creates a blockage where drivers expect steady movement. Cutting across the island opposes the design of the intersection, and forcing the next exit when the move cannot be made safely trades a small delay for a collision risk. Stay calm, hold your lane discipline, and circle again.

    Study this in the handbook: Intersections, right of way and roundabouts

14. 14. Collisions between vehicles and moose in Alaska cluster at certain low light hours. When do most of them occur?

    1. At midday, when moose cross between feeding areas
    2. During dawn and dusk, when dim light meets peak moose movement
    3. Only after midnight, when highways carry almost no traffic
    4. Evenly through every hour of the day and night
    Show answer

    During dawn and dusk, when dim light meets peak moose movement. Moose move most at the edges of the day, exactly when low light hides their dark bodies against brush and shadow. Dawn and dusk therefore produce most vehicle and moose collisions. Midday visibility protects drivers, the small hours after midnight see less animal movement, and risk is anything but even across the clock. Slow down at those hours, scan the road edges beyond your headlights, and treat every shadow near the shoulder as a possible animal.

    Study this in the handbook: Night driving, lighting, weather and animals

15. 15. In Alaska, how much water reaches the bottom of most passenger cars and risks control loss or stalling?

    1. 2 inches of water on most passenger cars
    2. 12 inches of water on most passenger cars
    3. 6 inches of water
    4. 24 inches of water on most passenger cars
    Show answer

    6 inches of water. Half a foot of water is enough to touch the underside of an ordinary car, foul intakes and electrics, and begin stealing steering and engine function, which is why shallow looking sheets across a road deserve total refusal. Smaller depths flatter the danger and larger ones describe flotation rather than first contact. Judge every flooded stretch by this low threshold: if water would reach the bottom of the car, the crossing is already too deep, whatever the far side promises about the rest of your trip.

    Study this in the handbook: Vehicle emergencies, skids and stalls on the tracks

16. 16. In Alaska, which driving ability does alcohol impair first?

    1. Physical strength for turning the steering wheel sharply
    2. Hearing of horns and sirens around you
    3. Eyesight for reading distant road signs
    4. Judgment, before other driving abilities
    Show answer

    Judgment, before other driving abilities. Alcohol reaches judgment before it visibly shakes hands or blurs signs, which is why a drinker can feel capable while the decisions that govern speed, gaps, and risk are already corrupted. Strength, hearing, and eyesight all suffer as intake grows, yet none leads the sequence. That ordering makes self assessment useless after drinking, because the tool you would judge sobriety with is the first tool impaired. Decide before the first drink who drives, and treat any feeling of fitness after drinking as evidence of the impairment itself.

    Study this in the handbook: Alcohol, implied consent and under 21 rules

17. 17. In Alaska, how long should infants and toddlers stay in a rear facing car seat as a best practice?

    1. Only until the first birthday arrives in every case without any exception at all
    2. As long as possible until the seat maker highest weight or height is reached
    3. Only until the growing child reaches a total body weight of 20 pounds
    4. Until the child announces a preference for sitting facing forward instead
    Show answer

    As long as possible until the seat maker highest weight or height is reached. Rear facing seats cradle the head, neck, and spine that infants carry disproportionately large and fragile, so best practice stretches that protection to the seat maker limits rather than to birthdays or minimum legal weights. Turning forward at the earliest legal moment trades proven protection for novelty the child cannot judge. Read the seat labels for both weight and height ceilings, keep the child rear facing until either ceiling is truly reached, and only then move to the forward harness stage the next recommendation describes.

    Study this in the handbook: Safety belts and child seats

18. 18. Your car quits at night on a busy Alaska highway and you coast onto the shoulder in darkness. What danger and warning come first?

    1. Leave the car dark so passing drivers are not distracted by lights
    2. Danger of being hit from behind, so use hazard lights with all four flashing
    3. Open all doors so the vehicle looks wider to approaching traffic
    4. Stand behind the vehicle waving traffic around with a flashlight
    Show answer

    Danger of being hit from behind, so use hazard lights with all four flashing. A stopped vehicle at night blends into darkness, and following drivers may not recognize it as stationary until braking is too late. Hazard lights with all four signals flashing announce that something is stopped and wrong. Leaving the car dark, opening doors into traffic, or standing behind it to wave each deepens the exposure. Set the flashers first, then move yourself and passengers away from the traffic side while help is called.

    Study this in the handbook: Turn signals and pavement markings

19. 19. In Alaska, a 3 year old weighs 30 pounds. How must that child ride under state law?

    1. Properly secured by a lap belt alone
    2. In a booster seat meant for older children
    3. Properly secured in a child restraint device
    4. Held in the arms of a belted adult passenger
    Show answer

    Properly secured in a child restraint device. Law matches restraint engineering to child size, and a child in the one to five span above the infant weight belongs inside a child restraint device built and tested for that body. Lap belts concentrate force on a small abdomen, boosters await the older child proportions, and adult arms fail at crash loads no grip can match. Install the device by its maker instructions, harness the child snugly on every ride, and graduate to the next stage only when age, weight, and height all say the child has truly outgrown this one.

    Study this in the handbook: Safety belts and child seats

20. 20. You compose a quick reply to a text while rolling slowly through Alaska traffic toward a red light. What does the law say?

    1. Slow rolling makes texting acceptable below ten miles per hour
    2. Texting is allowed when traffic ahead is stopped at the light
    3. Texting while driving is prohibited by law in Alaska
    4. Texting is allowed if the message takes only a few seconds
    Show answer

    Texting while driving is prohibited by law in Alaska. Texting combines visual, manual, and thinking distraction in a single act, and Alaska prohibits composing or reading texts while driving without a slow speed or short message exception. Rolling toward a light is still driving, with walkers, cyclists, and changing signals demanding attention. Leave the phone untouched until the vehicle is parked somewhere safe, then reply with the road no longer competing for your eyes, hands, and judgment.