North Carolina DMV Permit Test Safe Driving, Emergencies, and Sharing the Road Summary

The law requires headlights from sunset to sunrise and whenever visibility is 400 feet or less. You must also use them whenever your wipers are on because of bad weather.

Wrong choices

• Only after midnight: Headlights are required from sunset, not only after midnight.
• Only on interstates: The law applies on all roads, not only interstates.
• Only when it is snowing: Snow is only one of the conditions that require headlights.

North Carolina drivers must use headlights whenever they use windshield wipers because of bad weather.

Wrong choices

• Turn on your hazard flashers: Hazard flashers are for a stopped or disabled vehicle, not for driving in rain.
• Use cruise control: Never use cruise control in rain; it can make a skid worse.
• Drive in the left lane: Rain does not change which lane you should use.

When a thin layer of water lifts your tires off the road, take your foot off the gas, resist braking, and keep the wheel straight until the tires grip the road again.

Wrong choices

• Brake hard right away: Hard braking can throw the car into a skid while hydroplaning.
• Turn the wheel sharply toward the shoulder: A sudden turn can send you into an uncontrollable skid.
• Speed up to get through the water: More speed makes hydroplaning worse.

The driver and all passengers must have a seat belt properly fastened whenever the vehicle is moving forward on a street or highway, even if the car has air bags.

Wrong choices

• Only the driver: Passengers must also be buckled.
• Only front-seat riders: Back-seat passengers must also be buckled.
• Only children: Adults must be buckled as well as children.

In fog, turn on your low-beam headlights, slow down, and watch for the tail lights of the vehicle ahead. High beams reflect off fog and make it harder to see.

Wrong choices

• High beams: High beams bounce off the fog and reduce what you can see.
• Parking lights only: Parking lights alone do not light the road or make you easy to see.
• No lights, to reduce glare: Driving without lights in fog makes you very hard to see.

Watch for shady spots, bridges, and overpasses, which are often the first to freeze as the temperature drops.

Wrong choices

• Straight, sunny roads: Sunny stretches usually stay warmer than bridges.
• Roads near stores: Being near stores does not make a road freeze first.
• Uphill sections: Hills are not named as the first places to freeze; bridges and overpasses are.

Large trucks have big blind spots called No-Zones: in front, along the sides, and up to 200 feet behind. A good rule is: if you cannot see the truck driver in the side mirror, the driver cannot see you.

Wrong choices

• The truck driver can see you clearly: It means the opposite: the driver probably cannot see you.
• The truck is about to stop: The mirror view says nothing about whether the truck will stop.
• You are at a safe following distance: Being out of the driver's sight means you may be in a No-Zone, not safe.

In a skid, ease off the gas and turn the wheel in the direction the rear of the car is skidding. As the car straightens, turn the wheel back so you do not oversteer.

Wrong choices

• Opposite to the way the rear of the car is sliding: Turning against the slide can make the skid worse.
• Hold it locked and brake hard: Hard braking can lock the wheels and lengthen the skid.
• Turn it back and forth quickly: Quick back-and-forth steering makes you lose control.

With ABS, brake hard and keep firm, steady pressure on the pedal. Pumping the pedal or easing off makes ABS less effective. Without ABS, pump gently on slippery roads.

Wrong choices

• Pump the brake pedal quickly: Pumping is for cars without ABS; it weakens ABS.
• Use only the parking brake: The parking brake alone is not the way to stop quickly.
• Tap the brake lightly: A light tap will not stop the car quickly.

Do not brake hard or turn back right away; you could skid or roll over. Ease off the gas, steer straight, let the engine slow the car, then check traffic and gradually return to the road.

Wrong choices

• Brake hard and jerk the wheel back to the road: Hard braking and jerking the wheel can cause a skid or rollover.
• Speed up and steer back sharply: Speeding up and steering sharply is the most dangerous choice.
• Turn on the wipers: Wipers have nothing to do with returning to the road.