Bad Weather & Night Driving — Indiana
Indiana motorcycle permit practice test: 351 free practice questions (4 official sample questions · Official driver handbook). The official format is not yet verified; check the official site before your test. Bad Weather & Night Driving: 23 questions.
Rain, snow, ice, fog and night driving: visibility, traction and headlight use.
This topic page is still being reviewed against the official handbook. Until review is finished it is hidden from search engines.
| Topic / Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Topic | Bad Weather & Night Driving |
| License test | Indiana Motorcycle permit test |
| Topic questions | 23 (7% of 351 total) |
| Review status | This topic page is still being reviewed against the official handbook. Until review is finished it is hidden from search engines. |
Official handbook
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Questions (23)
1. When riding at night, you should:
- Decrease your following distance.
- Increase your following distance. ✓
- Ride faster than you usually would.
- Avoid using your high beam headlight.
Answer: B. Increase your following distance.
When riding at night, increase your following distance — open up a three-second gap or more. The manual explains that judging distance is harder after dark because your eyes depend on shadows and light contrasts to tell how far away something is and how fast it is closing. Its nighttime advice is to open up a three-second following distance or more, and to leave extra room when passing and being passed. So the correct response to darkness is more space, not less. The same section also pairs this with riding slower than you would in daylight.
2. Slippery surfaces can make it difficult to control a motorcycle. Which of the following would be considered a slippery surface?
- Wet pavement ✓
- A driveway
- Dry pavement
- A parking lot
Answer: A. Wet pavement
Wet pavement is the slippery surface among these choices. The manual lists wet pavement as a surface that gives poor traction, especially just after rain begins and before oil washes away. It says motorcycles handle better on surfaces with good traction, so a wet road is the kind of slippery surface where control can be harder. The other choices are not named as slippery surfaces in the passage. That direct listing supports choosing wet pavement.
3. If the road is wet, you should avoid:
- The left portion of a lane.
- The center portion of the lane. ✓
- The right portion of the lane.
- All areas of the lane.
Answer: B. The center portion of the lane.
When the road is wet, you should avoid the center portion of the lane. The manual says the center of a lane can be hazardous when wet. It also explains that the center third is where debris and oil drippings collect, and that the typical center strip gives adequate traction only when the road is not wet. When rain starts, the manual says to ride in the tire tracks left by vehicles, often the left tire track, depending on traffic and road conditions. That guidance points you away from the center portion in wet conditions.
4. When riding on a slippery surface, you should not:
- Reduce your speed.
- Avoid sudden moves.
- Use both brakes.
- Brake quickly. ✓
Answer: D. Brake quickly.
When riding on a slippery surface, you should not brake quickly; use smooth, gentle brake pressure instead. The manual's slippery-surface advice is to slow down before you reach the slick spot, avoid any sudden change in speed or direction, and use both brakes with gentle pressure. It says to squeeze the brake lever gradually rather than grab it, and it warns that too much brake can cause a skid. A quick, hard stop asks for exactly the kind of abrupt brake force the manual tells you to avoid on a slippery surface.
5. When riding at night, you should:
- Be flexible about your lane position and adjust to changing conditions. ✓
- Travel at a faster speed than usual to get to your destination more quickly.
- Always use your low beam headlight to see better.
- Decrease your following distance so you can be as close as possible to the vehicle ahead.
Answer: A. Be flexible about your lane position and adjust to changing conditions.
At night you should be flexible about your lane position, changing to the part of the lane that helps you see, be seen, and keep a space cushion. The manual's night riding guidance says to change to whichever portion of the lane is best for seeing, being seen, and keeping an adequate space cushion. That matches being flexible about lane position and adjusting to conditions. The same section also tells you to slow down so your stopping distance stays within the distance your light shows you, and to use your high beam whenever you are not following or meeting a car. So the flexible lane position idea is the one drawn straight from the night riding rules.
6. What should a motorcyclist do to prevent possible injury when riding on a slippery surface?
- Increase their speed.
- Reduce their speed. ✓
- Make sudden moves.
- Ride on the shoulder.
Answer: B. Reduce their speed.
To prevent possible injury on a slippery surface, the motorcyclist should reduce their speed. The handbook says to slow down before reaching a slippery surface to lessen the chance of skidding. It also notes that a motorcycle needs more distance to stop and that slowing down is especially important before entering wet curves. The same passage warns that sudden changes in speed or direction can cause a skid, so the rider should stay smooth. Reducing speed fits the manual's direct guidance for slippery surfaces.
7. If you are riding over rain grooves or bridge gratings and your motorcycle begins to weave, you should:
- Brake suddenly.
- Steer in a weaving pattern.
- Relax, maintain a steady speed, and ride straight across the grooves. ✓
- Move to the leftmost portion of the lane.
Answer: C. Relax, maintain a steady speed, and ride straight across the grooves.
Relax, keep a steady speed, and ride straight across the grooves or grating. The manual says the wandering, uneasy feeling you get on rain grooves or bridge gratings is usually not dangerous by itself. What you should do is relax, hold a steady speed, and ride straight across. It also warns that crossing at an angle makes riders zigzag to stay inside the lane, and that zigzagging is much more hazardous than the wandering feeling the grooves give you. So the calm, straight-line approach keeps the bike predictable instead of adding extra steering movement.
8. When riding at night, you should travel:
- More slowly than you would during the day under similar conditions. ✓
- At the speed you would travel during the day under similar conditions.
- Faster than you would during the day under similar conditions.
- On the shoulder of the road so other vehicles can see you.
Answer: A. More slowly than you would during the day under similar conditions.
At night you should ride slower than you would during the day under similar conditions. The manual explains that at night it is harder for you to see and be seen, and picking your headlight or taillight out of surrounding car lights is not easy for other drivers. To make up for that, it tells riders to reduce speed and ride slower than they would during the day, especially on roads they don't know well, which increases the chance of avoiding a hazard. It also says to open up a three-second following distance or more because distances are harder to judge at night.
9. Rain suits:
- Should not be used.
- Should not balloon when riding. ✓
- Are not needed since motorcycles shouldn't be operated in the rain.
- Should tear easily.
Answer: B. Should not balloon when riding.
Rain suits should not balloon when riding — good-quality rain suits made for motorcycling resist ballooning up and tearing apart at high speeds. The manual's riding gear section says cold or wet weather calls for clothing that keeps you warm and dry, and it describes good-quality rain suits built for motorcycle riding as ones that resist tearing apart or ballooning up at high speeds. A suit that balloons is not doing that job, so the standard the manual sets is a suit that stays in place while you ride.
10. When riding at night, you should do all of the following, except:
- Reduce your speed.
- Increase your following distance.
- Decrease your following distance. ✓
- Use your high beam light, if possible.
Answer: C. Decrease your following distance.
The one thing you should not do at night is decrease your following distance — you want more room, not less. The manual says following too closely is a common factor in motorcycle crashes, and that a rider normally needs at least a two-second gap behind a vehicle. At night it also tells you to slow down enough to stop within the distance your headlight shows you, and to use your high beam whenever you are not following or meeting a car. All of that points to keeping a bigger cushion after dark, so cutting your following distance goes against the manual's advice rather than being part of it.
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Last checked: 2026-10-17 · Verified from official source
Updated: · 4 official sample questions · Official driver handbook