MS Permit Practice Test 21

All 20 questions in test 21

Every question below comes from the Mississippi 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. How long must a driver hold a Regular Learner's Permit before upgrading to a Regular Driver's License, unless the driver turns seventeen first?

   1. Six months
   2. One year
   3. Two years
   4. Three months
   Show answer

   One year. The permit stage lasts one year before a driver can upgrade to a Regular Driver's License. That year gives a learner supervised practice across seasons, road types, and traffic conditions before driving alone. Six months and three months cut that practice short, while two years confuses the holding period with how long the permit itself stays valid. One exception matters: a learner who turns seventeen before finishing the year may apply for the regular license at that point.

   Study this in the handbook: Learner's Permits and the Regular License

2. 2. According to the Mississippi manual, what causes most automobile skids?

   1. Worn tires on dry pavement
   2. Driving too fast for weather and road conditions
   3. Braking gently while turning
   4. Following too far behind other cars
   Show answer

   Driving too fast for weather and road conditions. Skids are usually a speed problem before they are a braking problem. The manual says most automobile skids are caused by driving too fast for the weather and road conditions, which is why rain, ice, and slick pavement call for a lower speed rather than a later correction. The worn-tire option names a risk factor but not the cause the manual identifies, the gentle-braking option describes a normal maneuver, and the following-distance option affects rear-end risk more than lateral grip. Slow down before the surface changes, and make every steering and braking input gentle.

   Study this in the handbook: Night Driving, Rain and Skids

3. 3. A lane above you shows a red signal in lane control. What applies?

   1. Travel there only if your destination is very near
   2. Use it at reduced speed until a green appears
   3. Never travel in a lane marked with a red light
   4. Enter it to pass a stopped bus loading ahead
   Show answer

   Never travel in a lane marked with a red light. Lane control red closes that lane completely; only lanes marked green may be used for travel at that time. Short trips and slow speeds do not reopen a closed lane, and passing a bus there risks meeting traffic lawfully using it. Move early toward green-lit lanes; late merges at the closure cause the backups. A red lane-control signal closes that lane to travel.

   Study this in the handbook: Traffic Signals and Arrows

4. 4. What protection does a yellow flashing arrow give a turning driver?

   1. Full protection, because oncoming traffic faces red
   2. None. Oncoming traffic has green, so the turn is unprotected
   3. Protection only in the first seconds while the arrow flashes
   4. The same protection as a solid green arrow display
   Show answer

   None. Oncoming traffic has green, so the turn is unprotected. A flashing yellow arrow allows the turn after yielding because oncoming traffic holds green; no protected phase shields your path. Full protection belongs to the solid green arrow, and timed partial protection invents a phase the signal never provides. Treat flashing yellow as permission to look for a gap, not possession of the turn. The flashing arrow allows a turn only after yielding to oncoming traffic.

   Study this in the handbook: Traffic Signals and Arrows

5. 5. A half-second slower reaction at 55 mph adds how much travel before stopping?

   1. An extra four feet before the vehicle stops rolling
   2. An extra four hundred forty feet of travel distance
   3. No extra distance, only extra steering correction time
   4. An extra forty-four feet before the vehicle stops
   Show answer

   An extra forty-four feet before the vehicle stops. Half a second of alcohol-slowed reaction at fifty-five miles per hour adds forty-four feet before stopping, often the margin to a crosswalk. Four feet trivializes the delay at highway speed, and four hundred forty feet inflates it beyond the manual measured example. That added distance is why drinking drivers must hand keys over before starting out. Forty-four feet is a substantial extra distance before the brakes begin slowing the car.

   Study this in the handbook: DUI and Implied Consent

6. 6. Which vehicles are excluded from the Natchez Trace Parkway?

   1. Commercial vehicles are excluded from the Parkway roadway
   2. Passenger cars are excluded on weekends and holidays
   3. Motorcycles must use the Parkway entrance roads during daylight hours
   4. All vehicles over six thousand pounds are excluded
   Show answer

   Commercial vehicles are excluded from the Parkway roadway. The Natchez Trace appendix states that commercial vehicles are excluded from the Parkway and that access is limited. It does not create a weekend or holiday ban on passenger cars, a daylight-only motorcycle rule, or a six-thousand-pound cutoff for every vehicle. The exclusion is based on commercial status, not on the vehicle's weight alone. The question asks which category the appendix specifically excludes, and that category is commercial vehicles.

7. 7. Are crosswalks counted as part of an intersection?

   1. No. Crosswalks end where the intersection begins legally
   2. Yes. The crosswalks are counted as part of the intersection
   3. Only marked crosswalks count as parts of an intersection
   4. Crosswalks belong to the sidewalk system, not the road
   Show answer

   Yes. The crosswalks are counted as part of the intersection. Mississippi's glossary defines an intersection as the place where roads come together or cross and adds that the crosswalks are counted as part of it. The definition does not limit that treatment to crosswalks with painted markings. Treating a crosswalk as sidewalk space outside the intersection would leave out the pedestrian area included by the glossary. The manual's definition therefore includes crosswalks in the intersection.

8. 8. What does the term right-of-way mean in the Mississippi manual?

   1. The legal right to drive above the posted limit
   2. The privilege of immediate use of the highway
   3. The duty to stop for every intersecting road
   4. The ownership of the lane next to the curb
   Show answer

   The privilege of immediate use of the highway. Right-of-way is not a permanent possession or a license to break another rule. The manual defines it as the privilege of immediate use of the highway, meaning the road user who holds it may move ahead while the others yield and wait. The speed option confuses right-of-way with an exemption from the limit, the stop option turns a privilege into a blanket duty, and the curb-lane option treats a public lane as private property. At a confused intersection, the safer course is to confirm who is yielding before moving, even when the rule favors you.

   Study this in the handbook: Right of Way at Intersections

9. 9. When should a driver determine who has the right-of-way at an intersection?

   1. After entering the intersection
   2. While turning through the crossing
   3. Before entering the intersection
   4. Only after another driver signals
   Show answer

   Before entering the intersection. Right-of-way should be settled while the driver still has room to slow or stop. The manual tells drivers to determine their right-of-way before entering an intersection, and to be patient and cautious in any situation where priorities are unclear. Deciding after entering removes the time needed to yield, deciding mid-turn is even later, and waiting for another driver's signal gives that driver control of the decision. Approach every crossing with a plan: identify the signs, the signals, and the traffic already inside before the front bumper reaches the intersection.

   Study this in the handbook: Right of Way at Intersections

10. 10. What must happen right after you finish changing lanes?

    1. Leave the signal blinking until the next mile marker
    2. Turn on hazard lights briefly to close the maneuver
    3. Signal the opposite direction once to cancel the first
    4. Switch off your turn signal after changing lanes
    Show answer

    Switch off your turn signal after changing lanes. Canceling the signal immediately after a lane change keeps your indications truthful for the drivers now following your new lane. A mile of stale blinking teaches others to ignore your signals, and hazard flashes announce trouble that does not exist here. Make cancellation automatic: move, center, cancel, then recheck your mirrors. Ending the signal avoids misleading drivers after the lane change is complete.

    Study this in the handbook: Following Distance and Stopping

11. 11. Who has the right-of-way when a parked driver pulls out?

    1. The parked driver leaving the space has priority over all moving traffic
    2. Whoever sounds the horn before the space is vacated
    3. Both share it equally once the parked car signals out
    4. Traffic already moving; the driver leaving the space does not have it
    Show answer

    Traffic already moving; the driver leaving the space does not have it. Leaving a parking space confers no priority; moving traffic keeps right-of-way and the exiting driver waits for a clear way. Horn use claims nothing legally, and equal sharing invites both drivers into the same lane space at once. Look back over your shoulder, not just in mirrors, before rolling out into the lane. A moving vehicle has priority over the car that is leaving the parking space.

    Study this in the handbook: Parking Rules

12. 12. You stop behind a large vehicle on an upgrade. Why should you leave additional space ahead?

    1. The large vehicle may need to refuel on the hill
    2. Your car needs room to build speed for the climb
    3. The truck may drift backwards slightly when it starts to move
    4. The driver ahead cannot use mirrors on a hill
    Show answer

    The truck may drift backwards slightly when it starts to move. A large vehicle stopped on an upgrade may drift backwards slightly when it starts to move, so the driver behind should leave additional space. Keeping to the left in the lane also helps the truck driver see that a vehicle is stopped behind. Building speed for the climb does not require a gap at a standstill, refueling plays no part in the pause, and the truck mirrors still work on a hill. Treat that backward drift as expected and stay clear of the rear bumper.

    Study this in the handbook: Bicycles and Large Vehicles

13. 13. Oncoming traffic blocks a wide pass around a bicyclist ahead of you. What should you do?

    1. Sound the horn until the bicyclist leaves the lane
    2. Pass at once by sharing the lane with the bicyclist
    3. Slow down behind the bicyclist and pass when oncoming traffic clears
    4. Follow the bicyclist through the oncoming lane
    Show answer

    Slow down behind the bicyclist and pass when oncoming traffic clears. When oncoming traffic blocks a wide pass, a driver should slow down behind the bicyclist and pass only after that traffic has cleared. Sharing the lane squeezes the rider, honking a cyclist out of the lane pressures a vulnerable road user, and entering the oncoming lane head-on trades one hazard for a worse one. Patience costs seconds here. Once the road ahead is clear, move over generously and pass at a reduced speed with plenty of room on the side.

    Study this in the handbook: Bicycles and Large Vehicles

14. 14. How long may an engine idle before restarting uses less gasoline?

    1. Do not idle more than a minute; restart instead of waiting longer
    2. Idle up to ten minutes before restarting saves any fuel
    3. Idling uses no gasoline after the first sixty seconds
    4. Restarting always uses more fuel than any idling period
    Show answer

    Do not idle more than a minute; restart instead of waiting longer. Mississippi's energy appendix says not to idle an engine for more than a minute. It also explains that an average car uses about a cup of gasoline every six minutes while idling and that restarting uses less gasoline than continuing to idle. The ten-minute choice reverses the recommendation, while idling still consumes fuel after the first minute. Restarting is not always more wasteful; the manual specifically compares it favorably with a longer stationary wait.

15. 15. Parking on a blind curve is treated how under the manual?

    1. Parking on a blind curve or dangerous place is illegal
    2. It is allowed if the hazard flashers stay on continuously
    3. It is allowed for stops shorter than ten minutes time
    4. Only the vehicle owner, never the driver, is arrested
    Show answer

    Parking on a blind curve or dangerous place is illegal. Parking on blind curves or otherwise dangerous places is illegal, and the vehicle may be towed with the driver subject to arrest. Flashers do not legalize a hidden stopped car, and ten hidden minutes at highway speed expose dozens of drivers to surprise. If approaching drivers cannot see you stopped, the law calls it illegal parking. A blind curve can hide the parked vehicle from approaching traffic.

    Study this in the handbook: Parking Rules

16. 16. At a four-way stop, what two factors determine right-of-way?

    1. Vehicle size first, then the direction each driver faces
    2. Who honks first, then the larger vehicle goes
    3. The driver on the left always decides the order taken
    4. Which vehicle arrives first and where it sits relative to others
    Show answer

    Which vehicle arrives first and where it sits relative to others. Four-way stop priority turns on arrival order and relative position, with the driver on the right favored when arrivals tie. Size and horn use create no priority, and left-side decision inverts the yield-to-the-right convention used at simultaneous stops. Arrive first, go first; arrive together, yield to your right neighbor. Arrival order applies first, and position resolves the order when vehicles arrive together.

    Study this in the handbook: Right of Way at Intersections

17. 17. Which of these at a railroad crossing requires every driver to stop within fifty to ten feet of the outer rail?

    1. A lowered gate, flashing signal, or flag person signal
    2. Only a lowered gate when a train is already in sight
    3. Only flashing lights when a train is also visible
    4. A flag person standing by with no signal given
    Show answer

    A lowered gate, flashing signal, or flag person signal. Mississippi requires a driver to stop within fifty to ten feet of the outer rail when a lowered gate, flashing electric signal, posted stop sign, flag person signal, or rapidly approaching train presents the warning. A train does not have to be visible before a gate, flashing signal, or flag person signal requires the stop. A flag person who gives no signal is not the condition stated in the rule. The listed warnings operate independently, so the driver must respond to any one of them.

    Study this in the handbook: Railroad Crossings

18. 18. A traffic officer directs you to proceed over a railroad crossing. What do you do?

    1. Follow the officer order immediately at the crossing
    2. Refuse until the flashing lights stop on their own
    3. Stop and wait for a second officer to confirm it
    4. Proceed only after every other waiting driver crosses first
    Show answer

    Follow the officer order immediately at the crossing. An officer direction to proceed over a crossing is followed immediately, overriding the default stop posture at that moment. Refusing for lights ignores the human authority managing the scene, and waiting for confirmation stalls traffic the officer is clearing. Officer eyes may see the held train you cannot; obey without debate. The officer's direction is the exception stated for proceeding over the crossing.

    Study this in the handbook: Railroad Crossings

19. 19. You drive a truck on a roadway outside business or residential districts. How close may you follow another truck, unless you are passing?

    1. Within one hundred feet of the truck traveling ahead
    2. Within two hundred feet of the truck ahead
    3. No closer than three hundred feet to other trucks
    4. Within fifty feet if traffic is moving slowly
    Show answer

    No closer than three hundred feet to other trucks. Outside business or residential districts, a truck, truck-trailer, or similar vehicle needs a long gap behind other trucks. Three hundred feet gives a heavy rig room to slow without crowding the truck ahead, whose bulk already hides much of the road beyond. One hundred or two hundred feet shrink that margin at highway speed, and slow traffic does not erase the weight and stopping distance involved. The only opening in the rule is an actual pass. Otherwise, drop back early and hold the full gap until conditions change.

20. 20. Where should children always ride in a vehicle?

    1. Children should always ride in the back seat of the vehicle
    2. Children may ride in front once they turn eight years
    3. The front seat is preferred for children under forty pounds
    4. Any seat is acceptable if the trip is under five miles
    Show answer

    Children should always ride in the back seat of the vehicle. Children always ride in the back seat, away from frontal airbag deployment zones and the most severe crash intrusion area. Eight years does not make the front safe, and short trips produce most crashes close to home, where the rule matters daily. Back seat every ride, even the two-minute trip to the store nearby. The back seat is the manual's required location for children.

    Study this in the handbook: Seat Belts, Child Seats and Distractions