Missouri DOR Motorcycle Practice Test 23

  • Questions25
  • Correct to pass20
  • Passing score80%
  • Minimum age15 years 182 days

Minimum age: 15 years 182 days with an approved rider training course, otherwise 16 years

25 questions. Pick an answer to see if it is right and why; you need 20 correct answers to pass.

  1. 1. You are about to accelerate hard to merge with traffic. What should you have arranged with your passenger?

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    Answer D: That you warn them beforehand so they can tighten their grip

    A passenger who is not expecting a burst of acceleration is thrown backward, and the sudden shift of weight upsets the machine just when the rider needs it settled.

  2. 2. What tells you that you are following the rider ahead of you too closely in a group?

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    Answer C: You have stopped being able to see the road surface ahead of them

    If the machine ahead blocks your view of the pavement it is about to cross, you will not see a hazard until you are already on it.

  3. 3. Why is a motorcycle particularly hard for other drivers to judge at night?

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    Answer A: Its single headlight gives no width cues for distance and speed

    Drivers judge distance from the spacing between a pair of headlights, and a single lamp gives them nothing to measure, so they routinely misjudge how close and how fast a motorcycle is.

  4. 4. On a long, straight highway you feel your attention fading. What helps you stay alert?

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    Answer A: Keep your eyes moving, scan mirrors and signs, and take regular breaks

    Staring at one point brings on highway hypnosis. Active scanning keeps the mind engaged, and a break every couple of hours restores alertness.

  5. 5. How do strong emotions affect driving?

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    Answer B: They narrow your attention and make risky decisions more likely

    Anger, worry and excitement all take attention away from the driving task and push drivers toward decisions they would not normally make.

  6. 6. A yellow diamond showing two vertical arrows, one pointing up and one pointing down, warns that

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    Answer A: the road ahead carries traffic in both directions

    The two-way traffic sign warns that the roadway ahead is not divided and that vehicles will be coming from the opposite direction.

  7. 7. A yellow diamond shows an arrow bent into a series of reversing turns. What does it warn about?

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    Answer A: Three or more changes of direction close together

    The winding road sign replaces a string of separate curve signs where several bends follow one another with only short straights between them.

  8. 8. A large truck is passing you on a two-lane road. What is the safest thing to do?

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    Answer C: Keep right in your lane and ease off the gas a little

    Staying in your own lane and easing off shortens the pass without forcing you onto a soft shoulder or into the truck's path.

  9. 9. You are stopped in a shared through and right-turn lane with your right signal on, and a bicyclist rides up along your right side. What should you do?

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    Answer A: Let the bicyclist clear the intersection or move ahead before you turn

    A cyclist alongside your right side is in the path your turn will sweep across, so wait until that space is clear before turning.

  10. 10. What is the danger of riding in cold weather with thin gloves?

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    Answer C: Cold, numb hands respond slowly and lose their feel for the controls

    Wind chill at riding speed cools the hands quickly, and numb fingers are slower and less precise on the clutch, throttle and brake.

  11. 11. At a rural intersection a beacon flashes yellow toward the main road and red toward the side road. How is each approach treated?

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    Answer A: The main road slows and proceeds, the side road stops

    An intersection control beacon assigns flashing yellow to the road with priority and flashing red to the approach that must stop and yield.

  12. 12. How does Missouri grade a third conviction for operating a vehicle without a valid license?

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    Answer B: A class E felony

    Missouri treats a first offense as a class D misdemeanor and a second as a class A misdemeanor, but a third or later conviction is a class E felony.

  13. 13. A signal on an entrance ramp changes from red to green and lets one vehicle at a time onto the highway. What should you do?

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    Answer A: Stop on the red and go on the green, one vehicle for each green

    A ramp meter spaces vehicles out so they join the highway one at a time instead of arriving as a group, and it is a traffic signal like any other.

  14. 14. A school sign paired with a plaque showing a diagonal downward-pointing arrow is installed

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    Answer D: at the school crossing itself, or as close to it as possible

    The diagonal downward arrow points at the crossing, so this assembly is placed at the crossing location rather than in advance of it.

  15. 15. Why is following distance measured in seconds rather than in car lengths?

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    Answer A: Because a time gap automatically grows with speed, while a fixed number of car lengths does not

    A gap counted in seconds keeps the same margin of reaction time at any speed, whereas a fixed number of car lengths becomes far too small as speed rises.

  16. 16. What condition does this sign warn a driver about?

    A yellow diamond showing a vertical black line with a shorter line joining it from the right
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    Answer B: Another road joins the road being traveled, from one side

    It announces a side road entering the main roadway, so the driver should expect vehicles waiting to pull out and other vehicles slowing to turn in.

  17. 17. You reach an intersection with no signs, signals or markings clearly before a vehicle that is approaching on your right. What is the rule?

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    Answer B: You may go first because you got there first

    At an uncontrolled intersection the first driver to arrive goes first; the yield to the right rule only settles a tie.

  18. 18. You have just passed a vehicle on a two-lane road. When may you return to your lane?

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    Answer B: When you can see the whole vehicle in your inside mirror

    Seeing the entire vehicle you passed in your rearview mirror shows there is room to pull back in without cutting it off.

  19. 19. Which feature suggests that a helmet is an uncertified novelty helmet?

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    Answer D: A shell less than one inch thick with no firm foam liner

    Novelty helmets are typically thin and very light because they lack the stiff energy absorbing liner that a certified helmet uses to manage an impact.

  20. 20. How should a face shield be cleaned?

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    Answer C: With mild soap and water and a soft cloth, then dried gently

    Plastic shields scratch easily and are damaged by solvents, and a scratched shield scatters light badly at night, so use mild soap, water and a soft cloth.

  21. 21. What does Missouri require of someone riding a moped on public streets?

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    Answer C: A valid driver license, and no riding on the interstate system

    A Missouri moped rider must hold a valid operator license but needs no motorcycle endorsement, and mopeds are barred from the federal interstate highway system.

  22. 22. You have stopped on the shoulder of a highway and want to rejoin the traffic. What is the correct way?

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    Answer D: Signal, build up speed along the shoulder, then merge into a gap

    Entering a fast lane at a slow speed is what causes the conflict, so the shoulder is used to gain speed before the merge in the same way as an acceleration lane.

  23. 23. 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.

  24. 24. What limits how much weight a motorcycle can carry?

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    Answer A: The load limit given by the manufacturer for that machine

    The manufacturer's figure covers the rider, the passenger and everything carried, and going over it overloads the tires, the brakes and the suspension.

  25. 25. On an unlit road, about how far ahead do high beams normally let you see?

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    Answer D: About 350 to 500 feet ahead of the vehicle

    High beams light roughly 350 to 500 feet of road and low beams far less, which is why night speeds have to be chosen around the beam, not the limit.