Alabama ALEA Permit Practice Test 20
- Questions30
- Correct to pass24
- Passing score80%
- Minimum age15 years
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1. How much following distance should you keep behind a motorcycle?
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Answer C: At least three to four seconds
A motorcycle can slow or stop very quickly and is easily upset by a surprise, so allow three to four seconds instead of the usual car gap.
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2. Crossing a parking lot on a hot day, you see a young child alone in a locked car. What should you do?
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Answer A: Call 911 right away and stay with the vehicle
The inside of a parked car can reach lethal temperatures within minutes, so a child left alone in one is an emergency.
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3. School warning signs use which background and legend colors?
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Answer A: A black legend and border on a fluorescent yellow-green background
School warning signs carry a black legend and border on a fluorescent yellow-green background, a shade chosen so they stand out from ordinary yellow warning signs.
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4. You feel fine twenty minutes after your last drink. Why is that a poor guide to driving?
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Answer B: Your blood alcohol level can still be rising
Alcohol keeps being absorbed for some time after the last drink, so a driver who feels able at the door can be more impaired a few miles down the road.
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5. What is the correct first step when parallel parking behind an empty space?
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Answer D: Signal, pull up alongside the vehicle in front of the space, then back slowly into it
Parallel parking is done in reverse from a position alongside the vehicle ahead of the space, because backing in lets the rear wheels guide the vehicle to the curb.
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6. A motorcycle ahead of you is weaving slightly as it crosses a stretch of grooved pavement. What should you do?
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Answer D: Give the rider extra room until the surface improves
Grooves, metal plates and loose material affect a motorcycle far more than a car, so back off and let the rider deal with the surface.
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7. What happens when alcohol is combined with another drug that also affects the nervous system?
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Answer B: Impairment is often far greater than either one alone would produce
Combined substances can multiply each other's effects, producing impairment well beyond what a driver would expect from either one taken separately.
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8. A steady red arrow is displayed for your left-turn lane at a two-way intersection. What must you do?
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Answer C: Stop and remain stopped until an indication permits the turn
A steady red arrow prohibits the movement it points to, so the driver stops and waits for a green arrow, a flashing yellow arrow or another indication that permits the turn.
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9. You leave your car so that its rear overhangs a marked crosswalk. What is wrong with that?
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Answer B: Pedestrians must step around it into the traffic lane
A crosswalk has to stay completely clear; anything sticking into it pushes people on foot out into the path of moving vehicles.
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10. When should you enter a destination into a navigation device?
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Answer B: Before you start driving, or after parking in a safe place
Programming a route is a visual, manual and mental task at the same time, so it belongs to the moments before the vehicle moves rather than to any point in traffic.
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11. An Alabama revocation period has run its course. What must the driver do before driving again?
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Answer C: Apply for a new license and pass the complete examinations
After an Alabama revocation ends, the driver must apply for a new license and take and pass the complete examinations.
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12. Why should you not leave the engine running when you walk away from your vehicle?
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Answer C: Because the vehicle can be stolen or can move on its own
An unattended running vehicle is an easy theft and, if the transmission slips or is knocked out of park, it can roll away with nobody at the wheel.
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13. A yellow diamond showing a truck is posted beside a quarry entrance. What is it warning about?
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Answer A: Trucks turning onto the highway from that entrance
A truck crossing or trucks entering sign is used where heavy vehicles pull onto the road from a site, and they accelerate slowly once they are on it.
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14. You reach a stop-controlled intersection at the same time as a driver on your left, but that driver is already moving through the crossing. Who goes first?
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Answer C: The driver who is already inside the intersection
A vehicle already in the intersection has the right of way, and the rule about yielding to the right applies only before anyone has entered.
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15. Where is a U-turn generally the most reasonable choice?
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Answer B: At an intersection where it is permitted and you can see well both ways
A U-turn needs a legal place and a long clear view in both directions, which is why a permitted intersection with open sight lines is the usual choice.
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16. A yellow sign reading DEAD END is posted at the entrance to a street. What does it mean?
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Answer D: The street ends and there is no way through
A dead end street stops at its far end, so a driver who enters must come back out the same way.
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17. An oncoming driver flashes their headlights while you are waiting to turn left. What should you do?
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Answer D: Judge the situation yourself, since the flash may mean something else
A flash is not a legal signal and may mean many things, so the decision to turn stays yours and must be based on what you can see.
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18. What is the function of a regulatory sign?
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Answer A: To inform road users of traffic laws or regulations that apply at that location
Regulatory signs state requirements that carry the force of law where they are posted, so disregarding one is a violation rather than a lapse of judgment.
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19. A diamond-shaped sign is used to
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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.
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20. You are in the middle lane of a one-way street with three lanes when a police car approaches from behind with lights and siren. What should you do?
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Answer C: Pull to the nearest curb and stop clear of the lanes
On a one-way street you clear to whichever curb is closest, so the emergency vehicle gets a clear path down the open lanes.
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21. A trailer that sways badly at speed is often loaded the wrong way. What is the usual fault?
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Answer A: Too much of the load sits behind the trailer axle
Weight behind the axle lightens the hitch and lets the trailer wag the vehicle. Most of the load should sit ahead of the axle to keep weight on the hitch.
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22. A parking space is marked with the international symbol of access. Who may use it?
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Answer A: Only a vehicle displaying the required placard or plate
Accessible spaces may be used only by a vehicle that displays a valid disability placard or plate, no matter how short the stop would be.
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23. You have turned onto a street and see parked cars facing you and headlights coming toward you. What has probably happened?
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Answer C: You have turned the wrong way onto a one-way street
Vehicles parked facing you and headlights approaching in your lane are the classic signs of driving against the flow on a one-way street.
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24. Rain is heavy enough that you have your windshield wipers running. What else should you switch on?
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Answer A: Your headlights, so you can see and others can see you
Rain heavy enough to need wipers also cuts how far away you can be seen, so the headlights belong on. Many states write this into law as a wipers on, lights on rule.
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25. Why should you dim the instrument panel and keep interior lights off when driving at night?
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Answer C: Bright light inside the vehicle reduces your ability to see the dark road ahead
Your eyes adapt to the brightest light they see. A bright cabin keeps them from adjusting to the darkness outside and creates reflections on the windshield.
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26. What will the driver have to do at the point this sign refers to?
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Answer C: Slow down and let conflicting traffic go first, stopping if that is what it takes
Further along, the driver has to let conflicting traffic and pedestrians go first, reducing speed and stopping whenever that is necessary to avoid interfering with them.
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27. Your right wheels have dropped onto a soft shoulder. Why should you not steer straight back onto the pavement?
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Answer A: The tires can catch the pavement edge and throw you across the road
A tire pressed against the edge of the pavement climbs it suddenly, and at speed that jolt can send the vehicle across the center line.
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28. You are waiting to turn left at a solid green light with no green arrow. Oncoming traffic is approaching. What should you do?
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Answer A: Yield to the oncoming traffic and turn only when there is a safe gap
A solid green light permits the left turn but does not protect it, so you must yield to oncoming vehicles and to pedestrians before turning.
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29. An orange sign showing the symbol of a person holding a flag or a sign paddle means that
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Answer D: a person is controlling traffic ahead and the driver must obey that person
The flagger sign warns that a trained flagger is directing traffic further on, and the flagger's instructions govern movement through the work zone.
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30. A small plaque mounted under this sign shows a numeral such as 2 or 3. What does that numeral report?
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Answer A: How many sets of tracks the crossing carries
The plaque states the number of tracks at that location, which is a warning that a second train may be running on another track behind the first.