Rhode Island Car / Permit: Safe Driving Practices Practice Test

Question 1

What happens to crash risk when a driver's eyes leave the road for two seconds or more?

Accepted Answer

It doubles — The manual states plainly that looking away that long doubles the chance of a collision.

Answer

It stays about the same

Answer

It drops slightly

Answer

It rises by roughly five percent

Question 2

A hazard sits to your left. Which lane position does the manual call for?

Accepted Answer

Three to six inches inside the right line or curb — Position three shifts the car three to six inches inside the right line or curb, which buys space away from trouble on the left.

Answer

Three to six inches inside the left line

Answer

Dead center in the lane

Answer

Half a lane onto the shoulder

Question 3

What does the research quoted in the Rhode Island manual say about hands-free phone use?

Accepted Answer

The risk is no lower than holding the handset — Studies found no difference in risk between holding a phone and using a headset; both pull enough attention away to cause a crash.

Answer

It removes almost all of the risk

Answer

It is safe above forty miles per hour

Answer

It cuts the crash risk in half

Question 4

What do the four letters of the IPDE process stand for?

Accepted Answer

Identify, predict, decide, execute — Identify the hazards, predict where conflict could arise, decide what to do and when, then execute the maneuver that keeps you clear.

Answer

Inspect, park, drive, exit

Answer

Idle, pause, drive, end

Answer

Insure, plan, drive, evaluate

Question 5

Who created the space-cushion system that the Rhode Island manual teaches?

Accepted Answer

Harold L. Smith, in 1952 — Harold L. Smith put it together in 1952, and it has since become a safety system recognized well beyond this country.

Answer

The Rhode Island State Police, in 1976

Answer

Federal highway researchers, in 1990

Answer

The Community College of Rhode Island, in 1965

Question 6

Which of these is one of the five keys of the Smith System?

Accepted Answer

Keep your eyes moving — Keeping the eyes moving is one of the five; the driver scans and glances constantly instead of fixing on any single point.

Answer

Rest both hands at the bottom of the wheel

Answer

Match the speed of the quickest car around you

Answer

Line the hood ornament up with the lane

Question 7

Into which four kinds does the Rhode Island manual sort driver distractions?

Accepted Answer

Physical, mental, visual and auditory — Distractions are described as physical, mental, visual or auditory, and often several of them arrive at once.

Answer

Legal, illegal, minor and major

Answer

Interior, exterior, rural and urban

Answer

Sudden, gradual, brief and lasting

Question 8

How often does the Rhode Island manual suggest stopping on a long drive?

Accepted Answer

Every hundred miles or every two hours — A break of at least ten minutes every two hours or every hundred miles is the rule of thumb the manual offers.

Answer

Every three hundred miles or every six hours

Answer

Every twenty-five miles

Answer

Only when the fuel gauge gets low

Question 9

How many zones does the Rhode Island zone system place around a vehicle?

Accepted Answer

Six — The system divides the space surrounding your car into six areas, each about a lane wide and reaching as far as you can see.

Answer

Three

Answer

Four

Answer

Eight

Question 10

Which lane position does the Rhode Island manual treat as safest for ordinary driving?

Accepted Answer

Centered in the lane — Position one puts the car in the middle of its lane, and that is the place to be when no hazard threatens from either side.

Answer

A few inches off the left line

Answer

A few inches off the right line

Answer

Straddling the center line

Question 11

Staying awake for twenty straight hours leaves a driver as impaired as which blood alcohol level?

Accepted Answer

Point zero five percent — Research cited in the manual equates twenty hours without sleep to a blood alcohol concentration of five hundredths of a percent.

Answer

Point zero two percent

Answer

Point zero eight percent

Answer

Point one five percent

Question 12

How far ahead does the orderly visual search pattern ask a driver to look?

Accepted Answer

Into a target area twelve to fifteen seconds away — The pattern works around a target area twelve to fifteen seconds down the road, with shorter checks of the four to six second range in between.

Answer

About one car length ahead

Answer

Two to three seconds ahead

Answer

Only as far as the headlights reach

Rhode Island Car / Permit: Safe Driving Practices practice test

Study questions with answers

1. What happens to crash risk when a driver's eyes leave the road for two seconds or more?

2. A hazard sits to your left. Which lane position does the manual call for?

3. What does the research quoted in the Rhode Island manual say about hands-free phone use?

4. What do the four letters of the IPDE process stand for?

5. Who created the space-cushion system that the Rhode Island manual teaches?

6. Which of these is one of the five keys of the Smith System?

7. Into which four kinds does the Rhode Island manual sort driver distractions?

8. How often does the Rhode Island manual suggest stopping on a long drive?

9. How many zones does the Rhode Island zone system place around a vehicle?

10. Which lane position does the Rhode Island manual treat as safest for ordinary driving?

11. Staying awake for twenty straight hours leaves a driver as impaired as which blood alcohol level?

12. How far ahead does the orderly visual search pattern ask a driver to look?

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