Montana MVD Motorcycle Practice Test 25

  • Questions33
  • Correct to pass27
  • Passing score82%
  • Minimum age16 years

Minimum age: 16 years, or 15 years with an approved Montana traffic education course

33 questions. Pick an answer to see if it is right and why; you need 27 correct answers to pass.

  1. 1. Why is it harder to read the road surface at night once it has rained?

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    Answer B: The wet surface throws light away and hides holes and markings

    Light from your headlight bounces off wet pavement instead of coming back to you, and reflections of other lights mask the surface, so slow down and open up your following distance.

  2. 2. You come up behind a bicyclist who is descending a steep hill in the middle of the traffic lane. What should you take into account?

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    Answer D: The rider may be moving at close to the speed of the traffic

    A bicycle can reach the speed of traffic on a descent, so there is little to gain from a pass and the rider needs the whole lane to steer around surface hazards.

  3. 3. How much clear road do driver manuals say you need before starting a pass at highway speed on a two-lane road?

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    Answer C: Enough to complete the pass and return, roughly ten to twelve seconds of travel

    At highway speed the whole maneuver of pulling out, overtaking and returning takes roughly ten to twelve seconds, and every foot of that has to be visible before you start.

  4. 4. Smoke and flames appear from the engine compartment after you stop. What should you do?

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    Answer A: Get everyone well away from the vehicle first, and then call the fire service

    A vehicle fire can spread within seconds, so people come out first and firefighting is left to the fire service.

  5. 5. What is the purpose of the padding built into the shoulders, elbows and knees of riding gear?

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    Answer C: It absorbs impact energy at the joints most likely to strike first

    Armor at the joints spreads and absorbs the force of an impact in the places that usually hit the ground first in a fall.

  6. 6. What is the most effective way for a rider to be seen by other drivers?

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    Answer C: Wear brightly colored reflective gear, or a reflective vest over dark clothing

    The most common thing drivers say after a collision with a motorcycle is that they never saw it, and bright reflective gear on the helmet and torso is the largest visible surface the rider controls.

  7. 7. The center line beside your lane is a broken yellow line. What does it allow?

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    Answer D: You may cross into the opposing lane to pass when it is safe and clear

    A broken yellow center line marks a passing zone where traffic in that direction may cross into the opposing lane to pass when the way ahead is clear.

  8. 8. You have finished a distracting task and your eyes are back on the road. What is true?

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    Answer A: Your full attention takes a while to come back

    Studies of drivers show attention lags behind the eyes for many seconds after a phone or a screen task, so the danger continues after the task is over.

  9. 9. At what normal speed must a Montana vehicle display the slow-moving vehicle emblem?

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    Answer D: Less than 25 miles an hour

    Montana requires the fluorescent yellow-orange triangular emblem on a vehicle or piece of equipment normally traveling at less than 25 miles an hour.

  10. 10. Where is the no passing zone pennant sign installed?

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    Answer A: On the left side of the roadway

    The pennant is placed on the left side of the roadway at the beginning of the no-passing zone, in the field of view of a driver who is thinking about overtaking.

  11. 11. Why is this restriction used so often on a divided road just before a crest or a bend?

    A white square showing a U shaped arrow inside a red circle with a red diagonal line through it
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    Answer A: Because a vehicle turning across the median there stays hidden from approaching drivers until it is too late

    The maneuver needs a long gap and good visibility, and where sight distance is short an approaching driver has no time to react to a vehicle turning across the road.

  12. 12. What do flashing yellow lights on a school bus mean?

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    Answer A: The bus is about to stop to load or unload, so prepare to stop

    The amber lights are the warning phase that comes before the red lights and the stop arm, so drivers should slow down and get ready to stop.

  13. 13. The vehicle ahead of you has pulled out to pass a truck. May you follow it out and pass as well?

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    Answer B: No, wait until it is done and judge the road for yourself

    You cannot see past the vehicle ahead of you, and if it has to abort the pass there is nowhere for either of you to go.

  14. 14. You make eye contact with a driver waiting to pull out of a side street. What should you assume?

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    Answer D: The driver may still not have seen you, so stay ready to slow or stop

    Drivers can look directly at you and still not register your vehicle, especially a small one. Eye contact helps, but never rely on it.

  15. 15. Where is the oil and grease strip in a lane usually widest and most slippery?

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    Answer D: At toll plazas, bus stops and intersections where vehicles sit and idle

    Oil and coolant drip most where vehicles stop, idle and pull away, so the center strip is widest and slickest at toll booths, bus stops and busy intersections.

  16. 16. What delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol level in the blood is enough for a Montana driving under the influence charge?

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    Answer A: 5 nanograms per milliliter or more

    Montana sets a per se limit of 5 nanograms per milliliter of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol in the blood.

  17. 17. Visibility drops suddenly and you decide to leave the highway. What is the safest way to do it?

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    Answer A: Take the next exit or a wide pull off, well clear of the traffic lanes

    Get right off the traveled way, and off the shoulder too if you can, because vehicles in poor visibility often drift onto the shoulder.

  18. 18. Why should two riders never travel side by side in the same lane?

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    Answer B: Because neither rider has room to swerve if a hazard appears

    Riding directly alongside another motorcycle removes the escape path each rider needs to avoid a hazard, a pothole or another vehicle.

  19. 19. A row of solid white triangles points toward you across your lane. What does it mark?

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    Answer A: The place to yield to traffic or people ahead

    A yield line of triangles shows drivers exactly where to give way, and it is used at roundabouts and at midblock crosswalks.

  20. 20. How does a rider open the throttle to increase speed?

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    Answer C: By rolling the right handgrip toward the rider

    Rolling the right handgrip toward you opens the throttle, and rolling it away closes it so the engine slows.

  21. 21. You approach a one-lane bridge and there is a yield sign facing your side of it. What does that mean?

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    Answer B: Oncoming traffic crosses the bridge first and you wait at the approach

    At a one-lane bridge the yield sign tells one direction to give way, so you wait clear of the bridge until oncoming traffic has crossed.

  22. 22. A car is coming straight at you in your lane and there is no time for it to move back. What should you do?

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    Answer A: Brake, sound the horn and steer to the right, toward the shoulder or ditch

    Steering right takes you away from the other vehicle even if its driver corrects course, and the shoulder or ditch is survivable.

  23. 23. A law enforcement officer is directing traffic and waves you forward while the signal facing you shows red. What should you do?

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    Answer A: Follow the officer's direction and proceed

    Directions given by an officer controlling traffic take priority over signals, signs and pavement markings.

  24. 24. What is the safest way to pass a bicyclist on a road with two lanes going your way?

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    Answer D: Change lanes completely, as you would for a car

    A bicycle is entitled to the room a vehicle needs, and moving into the next lane gives the rider space to swerve around a drain or a pothole.

  25. 25. Where is this sign installed in relation to the hazard it announces?

    A yellow circle showing a black cross and the letters R R in the side quarters
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    Answer A: Far enough before the hazard that a driver can slow down and stop short of it

    This is an advance warning sign, placed on the approach so a driver has time to react before reaching a crossing that a curve or a crest may be hiding.

  26. 26. Why should a rider pull in the clutch at the first sign that the engine is seizing?

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    Answer B: So a locking engine cannot lock the rear wheel through the drive train

    A seizing engine can lock up, and with the clutch engaged that would lock the rear wheel, so disconnecting the drive keeps the wheel rolling while you coast off the road.

  27. 27. How does the crown of a road affect a turn made on it?

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    Answer C: Turning toward the low side leaves less ground clearance for leaning

    Leaning down the slope of the crown adds the slope to the lean angle, so the footrests and other parts reach the pavement sooner than they otherwise would.

  28. 28. Why is it dangerous to make a left turn from the second lane from the center?

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    Answer C: Because a driver in the lane beside you is turning into the same space

    Drivers in the proper turn lane are entitled to that space, and turning across them puts two vehicles into one path through the intersection.

  29. 29. You have just returned to your own lane after passing. Why should you not slow down straight away?

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    Answer A: The vehicle you passed is close behind and needs room to stop

    Returning and then braking leaves the driver you just overtook with almost no following distance, which is how a pass turns into a rear-end collision.

  30. 30. You are driving on a road covered with a layer of wet fallen leaves. What should you expect?

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    Answer B: As little grip as on ice, plus hidden markings and hidden holes

    Wet leaves are as slippery as ice and they hide the lane lines and any potholes underneath, so slow well before curves and stops.

  31. 31. The lane control signal above your lane changes to a steady yellow X. What should you do?

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    Answer A: Prepare to leave the lane, because it is about to be closed

    A steady yellow X is the warning that the lane below it is about to close, giving drivers time to move over before the red X appears.

  32. 32. What should riders expect from highway traffic when a group is merging?

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    Answer C: Drivers will not hold a gap open for the group, so riders take real gaps

    Other drivers do not treat a line of motorcycles as one vehicle, so each rider has to find a genuine gap rather than count on being let in.

  33. 33. An emergency vehicle is stopped on the shoulder ahead with its lights flashing. What does the move over principle require?

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    Answer D: Change lanes away from it, or slow down if you cannot

    Move over laws ask you to give responders an empty lane, and where traffic or a two-lane road makes that impossible, you slow down instead.