Bad Weather & Night Driving — Maine
Maine motorcycle permit practice test: 559 free practice questions (Based on the official driver handbook). The official format is not yet verified; check the official site before your test. Bad Weather & Night Driving: 32 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 | Maine Motorcycle permit test |
| Topic questions | 32 (6% of 559 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 (32)
1. If you can’t avoid a dangerously slippery surface, you should:
- Speed up and lean the motorcycle.
- Speed up and keep the motorcycle upright.
- Slow down and lean the motorcycle.
- Slow down and keep the motorcycle upright. ✓
Answer: D. Slow down and keep the motorcycle upright.
You should slow down and keep the motorcycle upright. The manual's slippery-surface section says to reduce speed before you reach a slippery surface to lessen the chance of a skid. It also calls for smooth, gradual control because a sudden change in speed or direction can cause a skid. When stopping, the manual says to straighten the handlebars in the last few feet to maintain balance and stay upright. Together, slowing down and staying upright is the safe response if you cannot avoid the slippery area.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Which of the following is not an example of a slippery surface?
- A dirt or gravel road
- A strip of oil in the center of a lane
- Mud on pavement
- Dry pavement ✓
Answer: D. Dry pavement
Dry pavement is the choice that is not an example of a slippery surface. The manual says a motorcycle handles better on surfaces that allow good traction, then lists poor-traction surfaces such as wet pavement and gravel roads where sand and gravel collect. Dry pavement is the surface that allows good traction, so it does not belong with the slippery-surface examples. The other choices describe conditions that reduce traction or are tied to the manual's warning about surface oil.
5. When riding in rain or fog, you should:
- Use your high beam headlight.
- Use your low beam headlight. ✓
- Not use your headlight.
- Alternate between your headlight's low and high beam settings.
Answer: B. Use your low beam headlight.
When riding in rain or fog, use your low beam headlight. The manual says to use low beam at night and in fog. These passages do not give a separate rain instruction, but the fog guidance points to low beam in reduced visibility. Low beam is the setting the manual ties to riding in fog, so it fits the bank answer. The passages do not say to use high beam in fog; the high-beam advice is about using as much light as you can when you are not following or meeting a car.
6. Of the following, which should you not do to improve your safety when riding at night?
- Increase your speed. ✓
- Reduce your speed.
- Use your high beam headlight whenever possible.
- Increase your following distance.
Answer: A. Increase your speed.
When riding at night, you should not increase your speed — slowing down is what the manual tells you to do. The manual's night-riding section starts from the fact that seeing and being seen are both harder after dark. Its advice is to ride slower than you would in daylight, especially on roads you don't know well, because that gives you a better chance of avoiding a hazard. Opening up a following distance of three seconds or more is listed alongside that. Speeding up works against all of this, so it is the one action on the list that doesn't belong.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. When it is raining, it is usually best to:
- Ride in the center of the lane.
- Pull off to the side of the road until the rain stops.
- Ride in the tire tracks left by cars. ✓
- Increase your speed.
Answer: C. Ride in the tire tracks left by cars.
When it is raining, the best choice is to ride in the tire tracks left by cars. The manual explains that the middle of a lane can be a bad place to be once rain starts, so you should put your wheels where other vehicles have already driven. Those tracks give you a better surface than the slick center. It adds that the left track is often the best spot, depending on traffic and road conditions, and reminds you to slow down and stay smooth on any wet surface. So following car tracks is the riding position the manual recommends, not stopping or speeding up.
10. A skidding rear tire:
- Is not serious.
- Eliminates your ability to change direction. ✓
- Will usually correct itself.
- Is only a concern if the front tire is also skidding.
Answer: B. Eliminates your ability to change direction.
A skidding rear tire eliminates your ability to change direction. The manual explains that too much rear brake pressure locks the rear wheel, and as soon as that wheel locks, you lose the ability to steer the bike. You only get control back by releasing the brake. It also warns that if the rear wheel is out of line with the front when you let go, the bike can snap upright and throw you off, so a rear-wheel skid is a serious situation that has to be handled, not ignored.
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Last checked: 2026-10-17 · Verified from official source
Updated: · Based on the official driver handbook