FL Permit Practice Test 17

All 20 questions in test 17

Every question below comes from the Florida 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. When the slippery surface warning sign appears, which response follows the handbook?

   
   1. Accelerate firmly so the tires clear the wet surface
   2. Use hard braking before every curve to test traction
   3. Drive slowly in wet weather and avoid speeding or quick braking
   4. Treat the sign as notice of a gravel-only roadway
   Show answer

   Drive slowly in wet weather and avoid speeding or quick braking. The skidding vehicle warns that wet pavement can reduce traction. The handbook advises a slow speed and cautions against accelerating or braking quickly, so the driver has more time to respond smoothly. Acceleration can increase the chance of a skid, and hard braking is the opposite of the gentle control needed on a slick surface. The gravel-road choice confuses this warning with a pavement-ends condition. A useful cue is to pair the sign with rain: ease off the accelerator, leave room, and make turns slowly.

2. 2. Between sunset and sunrise, what must be fitted to the rear of a bicycle?

   1. A white light visible from 500 feet with no reflector
   2. A red reflector and a red light visible from 600 feet
   3. A red reflector alone with no rear light
   4. A red light visible from 100 feet with no reflector
   Show answer

   A red reflector and a red light visible from 600 feet. A bicycle needs both a red reflector and a red light visible from 600 feet on the rear between sunset and sunrise. A reflector by itself leaves out the lamp requirement. Likewise, a rear light does not remove the need for the reflector. The white light belongs on the front, which has its own visibility rule. Check the rear equipment as a pair: the reflector and the red light must both be present for the nighttime arrangement described in the handbook.

   Study this in the handbook: Bicycles, trucks, motorcycles and pedestrians

3. 3. What must you tell an officer about a vehicle weapon?

   1. Hide it and stay silent
   2. Declare it upon first contact
   3. Show it to the officer
   4. Leave it on the seat
   Show answer

   Declare it upon first contact. Weapons demand immediate honesty: let the officer know upon first contact if you have a weapon in the vehicle. Silence risks a tragic discovery mid-stop, brandishing it to show looks like an attack, and seat-display normalizes a threat display. First-contact declaration lets the officer control the stop's safety plan with full information. Pair the declaration with frozen visible hands and exact compliance with the officer's next instructions, moving only when told and narrating every reach.

4. 4. How closely may you follow a bicyclist?

   1. Tailgate to hurry them
   2. Follow at one second
   3. Flash high beams at them
   4. Keep a safe distance behind them
   Show answer

   Keep a safe distance behind them. Bicycles brake and swerve without warning lights, so crowding them is reckless: do not follow a bicyclist too closely. Tailgating to hurry them along, one-second gaps, and headlight harassment all pressure a rider who has no protection and few escape options. The same handbook breath that bans close following also bans high beams at approaching cyclists at night. Hang back, wait for a safe three-foot passing opportunity, and overtake as you would any slow vehicle.

   Study this in the handbook: Bicycles, trucks, motorcycles and pedestrians

5. 5. Unless posted otherwise, what is Florida's maximum speed in a municipal, business, or residential area?

   1. 20 mph
   2. 30 mph
   3. 25 mph
   4. 55 mph
   Show answer

   30 mph. Florida lists 30 MPH as the maximum speed in a municipal, business, or residential area, except where another limit is posted. Twenty MPH is the standard school zone limit. Twenty five MPH is not in Florida's standard table. Fifty five MPH is the default for other streets and highways, and limited access highways allow 70 MPH. The handbook also reminds drivers that the speeding buffer is a myth: you are not allowed to drive up to 10 MPH over the limit and may receive a citation for speeding.

   Study this in the handbook: Following distance, stopping and speed limits

6. 6. When is it safe to cut back in after passing a large truck?

   1. Cut in as soon as you clear the bumper
   2. Wait until you see the cab in your mirror
   3. Cut in while honking
   4. Cut in at night only
   Show answer

   Wait until you see the cab in your mirror. Trucks cannot stop as quickly as cars, so cutting in too soon after passing one invites disaster if traffic slows. The handbook's clearance test is the cab: complete the pass only when you can see the truck's cab in your rear-view mirror. Bumper clearance alone leaves no braking margin, honking communicates nothing about space, and night changes nothing about physics. Some truckers flash their headlights to signal it is safe to return; accept the courtesy and merge smoothly.

   Study this in the handbook: Right of way at intersections and roundabouts

7. 7. According to the Florida handbook, what is the minimum total stopping distance at 50 mph?

   1. 268 feet
   2. 55 feet
   3. 158 feet
   4. 100 feet
   Show answer

   268 feet. Total stopping distance adds perception distance, reaction distance, and braking distance, and Florida says a car at 50 mph travels at least 268 feet before stopping, nearly a football field. Fifty five feet is only the reaction distance at 50 mph. One hundred fifty eight feet is only the braking distance on dry pavement with good brakes. One hundred feet is far too short. Doubling your speed makes the braking distance and impact four times greater.

   Study this in the handbook: Following distance, stopping and speed limits

8. 8. What does red mean on traffic signs?

   1. Go and guide
   2. Construction zones
   3. Stop, do not enter, wrong way
   4. School zones
   Show answer

   Stop, do not enter, wrong way. Red commands obedience: the color means stop, do not enter, and wrong way on the signs that carry it. Go-and-guide belongs to green, construction to orange, and schools to fluorescent yellow-green. Stop signs, do-not-enter signs, wrong-way signs, and yield signs all wear red because each orders immediate compliance. Seeing red on any sign is the cue to obey first and question nothing until safely stopped or turned.

   Study this in the handbook: Pavement markings

9. 9. How must a projecting load be lit at night?

   1. Two red lamps visible 500 feet to the rear
   2. No lights needed
   3. A single candle
   4. Headlights on the load
   Show answer

   Two red lamps visible 500 feet to the rear. Night loads must glow red behind: from sunset to sunrise and in rain, smoke, or fog, projecting loads need two red lamps on the back visible at least five hundred feet to the rear, plus red reflectors. No-lights, candle, and headlight-on-load readings miss the specification that keeps overtaking drivers from striking the overhang. Daylight uses eighteen-inch-square red flags on the extremities instead. Mark every foot beyond four feet past the rear.

10. 10. Your vehicle breaks down and cannot be moved far. Where should you try to stop it?

    1. Just past the crest of a hill
    2. In the left lane so others pass on the right
    3. Where it can be seen for 200 feet in each direction
    4. On a curve where traffic will slow down
    Show answer

    Where it can be seen for 200 feet in each direction. Florida's breakdown steps start with getting all four wheels out of the traffic lanes as soon as possible. If possible, park where the disabled vehicle can be seen for 200 feet in each direction, then turn on your hazard lights and get passengers out on the side away from traffic. A hill crest or a curve hides the vehicle from approaching drivers until they are too close to react. Stopping in the left lane leaves the car in the path of traffic.

    Study this in the handbook: After a crash and vehicle emergencies

11. 11. The Florida handbook explains how speed affects crash force. If you double a car's speed, what happens to its force of impact?

    1. It doubles
    2. It increases nine times
    3. It increases four times
    4. It stays about the same if you brake
    Show answer

    It increases four times. Crash energy grows much faster than speed. The Florida handbook says that when you double the speed of a car, you increase its force of impact four times, and when you triple the speed, the force of impact increases nine times. So doubling speed does not merely double the force, and nine times is the figure for tripling. Braking cannot be counted on to cancel the effect, which is why obeying the speed limit lowers both the chance and the severity of crashes.

    Study this in the handbook: Following distance, stopping and speed limits

12. 12. What do double solid yellow lines in the center of a Florida highway mean?

    
    1. Passing is prohibited for traffic in both directions
    2. Only trucks may cross the line to pass
    3. The center line marks a lane reserved for bicycles
    4. Passing is permitted whenever the road looks clear
    Show answer

    Passing is prohibited for traffic in both directions. A solid yellow line on both sides of the centerline marks a place where passing is not allowed. The restriction applies in both directions, so a clear-looking roadway does not create an exception. The truck choice invents a vehicle class exemption, and the bicycle-lane choice confuses a centerline with a lane designation. Before changing position, read the pavement marking on your side and the surrounding roadway. A double solid yellow line is a firm cue to stay in lane unless another lawful movement applies, such as a permitted turn.

    Study this in the handbook: Pavement markings

13. 13. You carry cargo on a Florida passenger vehicle. How far may it extend beyond the right side fenders?

    1. Up to 2 feet
    2. Up to 6 inches
    3. Up to 4 feet
    4. Any distance if it is flagged
    Show answer

    Up to 6 inches. Florida limits side overhang on passenger vehicles. A load may not extend beyond the fenders on the left side at all, and it may not extend more than 6 inches beyond the line of the fenders on the right side. Two feet and four feet are far too wide for a passenger car, and the four foot figure comes from the rule for loads that project from the rear. Flags mark a projecting load, but they do not make an illegal side overhang legal.

14. 14. How did you agree to DUI chemical testing?

    1. Verbal promise at the stop
    2. Signature on the driver license
    3. Payment of a testing fee
    4. Nothing implies consent
    Show answer

    Signature on the driver license. Consent is signed, not spoken: by law you agreed, when signing your driver license, to take the requested blood, urine, or breath tests. The license signature is the implied-consent contract every Florida driver accepts with the card. No roadside promise, fee payment, or fresh agreement is needed, and claiming no consent exists contradicts the statute. That is why refusal carries its own automatic suspension: the driver is breaking a testing promise already made and signed.

    Study this in the handbook: Learner's license, practice hours and teen curfews

15. 15. How close to a flashing signal, stop sign, or traffic signal may a Florida driver park?

    1. No closer than 15 feet
    2. No closer than 20 feet
    3. No closer than 50 feet
    4. No closer than 30 feet
    Show answer

    No closer than 30 feet. Florida's no parking list includes within 30 feet of any flashing signal, stop sign, or traffic signal, and within 30 feet of a rural mailbox on a state highway between 8 am and 6 pm. Fifty feet is the railroad crossing distance, and 20 feet is the distance from the entrance to a fire, ambulance or rescue station. Parking is also barred on overpasses, in tunnels, in front of driveways, by yellow curbs and on the roadway side of a parked vehicle.

    Study this in the handbook: Passing, turning and parking

16. 16. After a tire blowout, you have eased off the gas and regained control. What should you do next?

    1. Brake softly and pull completely off the roadway
    2. Brake sharply while turning back into traffic
    3. Accelerate to keep the damaged tire rolling
    4. Continue driving until the next scheduled stop
    Show answer

    Brake softly and pull completely off the roadway. After the initial response to a blowout, concentrate on steering and allow the car to slow gradually. Once it is under control, brake softly and pull completely off the pavement or roadway. This later part of the sequence should not be confused with the first moment, when the handbook says to avoid using the brakes. Sudden braking and accelerating are not the recovery steps. Use the regained control to complete a gradual stop away from the roadway.

    Study this in the handbook: After a crash and vehicle emergencies

17. 17. How should a Florida driver change following distance when roads are wet from rain?

    1. Decrease it to stay with the vehicle ahead
    2. Keep exactly four seconds in every condition
    3. Use the shoulder as an extra stopping lane
    4. Increase it because wet roads lengthen stopping distance
    Show answer

    Increase it because wet roads lengthen stopping distance. Rain makes roads slick and increases braking and stopping distance, so the handbook tells drivers to increase following distance. Four seconds is the minimum for favorable conditions, not a ceiling that applies during every storm. Closing the gap reduces reaction room, and the shoulder is not a substitute for space in the travel lane. Slow down, turn on headlights with the wipers, and leave extra room ahead.

18. 18. What evaluation follows a first DUI conviction?

    1. An evaluation for addiction-treatment need
    2. No evaluation is needed
    3. A vehicle appraisal
    4. A credit check
    Show answer

    An evaluation for addiction-treatment need. Every first DUI sentence includes an evaluation to determine the need for treatment for addiction. The screening separates the one-time mistake from the emerging dependency and routes the latter into treatment before the next offense. Skipping evaluation, appraising the car, or checking credit each miss the point: the court is diagnosing the driver, not the finances or the vehicle. Second and third convictions repeat the evaluation, because recurrence itself signals deepening addiction.

    Study this in the handbook: DUI, implied consent and zero tolerance

19. 19. How should you adjust following distance when being passed?

    1. Speed up to block the pass
    2. Move left to help
    3. Sound the horn continuously
    4. Leave more space ahead so the pass completes safely
    Show answer

    Leave more space ahead so the pass completes safely. When another driver passes you, Florida asks you to open extra space in front of your vehicle so the pass can be completed safely. The passing car needs a gap to return to the lane, and crowding forward closes it. Speeding up to block, drifting left, or blasting the horn all endanger the maneuver and can provoke a head-on collision. Easing off and holding your lane is the cooperative, legal response that gets everyone past the conflict point with room to spare.

    Study this in the handbook: Following distance, stopping and speed limits

20. 20. What does a sharrow marking tell motorists about bicycle use of the lane?

    1. Bicyclists may use the entire lane
    2. The lane is reserved exclusively for bicycles
    3. Bicyclists must travel against motor traffic
    4. Bicyclists must stay outside the marked lane
    Show answer

    Bicyclists may use the entire lane. A sharrow identifies a shared-use lane and alerts motorists that bicyclists may use the whole lane. It also indicates where bicyclists should ride and discourages riding against traffic. This differs from an exclusive bicycle lane separated from motor vehicle lanes by solid white lines. Do not read the shared marking as an instruction to force a bicycle outside the lane. The symbol communicates that bicycle and motor vehicle travel can occur within that same lane.

    Study this in the handbook: Pavement markings