Missouri DOR Permit Practice Test 21
- Questions25
- Correct to pass20
- Passing score80%
- Minimum age15 years
-
1. Two people drink the same amount of alcohol at the same time. Why might their blood alcohol concentrations differ?
Show answer
Answer C: Body weight, gender and food in the stomach affect the concentration
Smaller people and, on average, women reach higher concentrations from the same amount of alcohol, and an empty stomach speeds absorption. Counting drinks alone does not tell you your level.
-
2. Your vehicle breaks down on a busy highway. What is the safest course of action?
Show answer
Answer D: Get it as far off the roadway as possible, switch on the hazard lights and keep clear of the traffic lanes
A vehicle left in or beside a travel lane is a hazard, so move it well off the road, make it conspicuous with hazard lights and keep yourself away from passing traffic.
-
3. How long must a Missouri instruction permit be held before the holder can move up to an intermediate license?
Show answer
Answer B: Six months, or 182 days
Missouri requires the instruction permit to be held for at least six months, counted as 182 days beginning the day after issuance.
-
4. You come around a bend and find loose sand spread across your lane. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer D: Ease off the gas, avoid sudden braking or steering, and keep straight
Loose material acts like ball bearings under the tires; smooth inputs preserve what little grip remains, while sudden braking or steering breaks it.
-
5. What must be true before Missouri's extra work zone fine can be imposed?
Show answer
Answer D: A highway worker was in the zone and a warning sign was posted
The enhanced work zone fine applies only where a highway worker was present in the zone and the required warning sign about the minimum fine had been posted.
-
6. The sign over the leftmost lane reads LEFT LANE MUST TURN LEFT. You are in that lane and want to go straight. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer C: Move out of the lane before the intersection if it is safe
A mandatory movement lane control sign makes the turn compulsory for that lane, so a driver who wants another movement must change lanes in advance.
-
7. You notice that the driver ahead of you is holding a phone to the ear. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer C: Assume slower reactions and leave extra space, or else hold back
A driver on the phone reacts late and misses things, so the safe response is distance rather than a lesson.
-
8. The trailer you are towing begins to sway from side to side at highway speed. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer D: Ease off the accelerator, hold the wheel steady and let the speed drop
Sway grows with speed and with sudden inputs. Reducing speed gently while keeping the steering steady lets the trailer settle behind you.
-
9. You are on an entrance ramp merging onto a freeway. Who has to give way?
Show answer
Answer B: You must yield and fit into a gap in the traffic already on the freeway
Traffic entering a highway must yield to traffic already on it. Use the acceleration lane to match speed and merge into a gap.
-
10. You are passing a line of slow traffic in the lane beside you and you notice a gap in that line ahead. What should you expect?
Show answer
Answer A: A vehicle may pull out of that gap into your lane
A gap in a slow line is an invitation to any driver waiting to turn out of a side street or to change lanes, and they are looking at the gap rather than at you.
-
11. You are about to pull out from a stop sign. Which scanning habit is correct?
Show answer
Answer A: Look to the left, then to the right, then to the left again before moving
Traffic from the left reaches you first, and a second look left catches anything that arrived while you were looking right.
-
12. You are approaching a marked school crossing and children have started to cross the roadway. What is required?
Show answer
Answer A: Stop and let the children finish crossing the roadway
Drivers give way to people in a marked crossing, stopping if that is what it takes, and children in particular may change direction without warning.
-
13. Your light turns green, but a vehicle from the cross street is still finishing a turn inside the intersection. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer B: Wait until that vehicle has cleared the intersection
A green indication lets you proceed only after yielding to pedestrians in the crosswalk and to vehicles already lawfully within the intersection.
-
14. You are about to make a three-point turn on a narrow two-way street. What is the first step?
Show answer
Answer B: Pull close to the right edge, signal left and check traffic both ways
A three-point turn starts from a stop at the right edge with a left signal, and you only move once you have checked that both directions are clear.
-
15. How does braking distance change if you double your speed?
Show answer
Answer D: It grows much more than twice as long
Braking distance increases with the square of speed, so doubling speed roughly quadruples the distance needed to stop.
-
16. What fine may a Missouri driver face for using a hand-held phone in a work zone or school zone?
Show answer
Answer B: Up to $500, even on a first violation
Missouri raises the fine to as much as $500 for a hands-free violation in an active work zone or school zone, regardless of prior convictions.
-
17. Another driver cuts you off and you feel your temper rising. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer A: Take a breath, drop back and let it go, because the whole trip matters more
Retaliation turns a moment of bad driving into a crash, and dropping back costs you only a few seconds.
-
18. How long is a Missouri point suspension for a driver being suspended for the second time?
Show answer
Answer D: 60 days
Missouri point suspensions run 30 days for a first suspension, 60 days for a second and 90 days for a third or later one.
-
19. How should your following distance change in heavy rain?
Show answer
Answer D: It should be increased well beyond what you use on dry pavement
Wet pavement lengthens stopping distance and rain cuts visibility at the same time, so a larger gap gives you the extra seconds needed to see a problem and stop for it.
-
20. Why is it worth planning your route before a long drive?
Show answer
Answer B: So that you are not reading a map or a screen while the car is moving
A driver who knows the route is not navigating at the wheel, which is one of the commonest sources of distraction.
-
21. What must a driver be ready to do along the stretch of road where this sign is posted?
Show answer
Answer D: Slow down and stop for a child who steps into the roadway
Children misjudge speed and distance and act without warning, so the driver reduces speed, covers the brake and scans the sidewalks and parked vehicles.
-
22. A highway lane is marked with a large white diamond and signed as a high-occupancy vehicle lane. Who may use it?
Show answer
Answer B: Only vehicles carrying at least the number of occupants shown on the sign, during the posted hours
The diamond marking identifies a preferential lane whose occupancy requirement and hours of operation are stated on the accompanying signs.
-
23. Cones and drums mark a shifted lane through a work zone. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer A: Follow the path that they mark and stay inside it
Channelizing devices define the temporary travel path, and the space on the other side of them belongs to the workers.
-
24. A diamond-shaped sign is used to
Show answer
Answer A: warn of a condition on or next to the road that may call for caution
The diamond is the standard shape of the warning series, which alerts drivers to conditions that would otherwise not be obvious in time to react.
-
25. A bicyclist in the bike lane ahead of you signals and starts to move left toward the turn lane. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer A: Slow down and let the rider move across
A bicyclist who needs to leave the bike lane to turn left is changing lanes like any driver, and following traffic should make room.