Speed Limits & Following Distance — New Jersey
New Jersey CDL practice test: 438 free practice questions (Based on the official driver handbook). The official format is not yet verified; check the official site before your test. Speed Limits & Following Distance: 15 questions.
Posted speed limits, school and construction zones, stopping and following distance.
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 | Speed Limits & Following Distance |
| License test | New Jersey CDL permit (CLP) knowledge tests |
| Topic questions | 15 (3% of 438 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
Not yet verified
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Questions (15)
1. When driving through a work zone, you should:
- Slow down. ✓
- Speed up.
- Use a cell phone.
- Steer with one hand to keep the other hand free.
Answer: A. Slow down.
When you drive through a work zone, you should slow down. The handbook's work-zone section says speeding is the leading cause of injury and death there, so you must watch the posted limit when you approach and pass through a work zone. It also tells you to keep checking your speedometer so your speed does not creep up in a long construction section. You should reduce speed further for bad weather or road conditions, and even more when a worker is near the roadway. That guidance points to slowing down, not doing anything that makes the vehicle harder to control.
2. A driver should always:
- Stay in their lane.
- Have an emergency plan. ✓
- Stay in the left lane.
- Drive above the speed limit.
Answer: B. Have an emergency plan.
A driver should always have an emergency plan. The handbook says you should always be looking for hazards, because hazards can turn into emergencies. Spotting them early gives you time to think through what could happen and decide what you would do. It then says to be ready to act on those plans. That is exactly the idea behind always having an emergency plan: you are prepared, defensive, and better able to protect yourself and others.
3. To prevent a trailer from rolling over, you should:
- Speed up when nearing a corner.
- Make sudden steering moves.
- Take on-ramps faster than the posted speed limit.
- Drive slowly around corners. ✓
Answer: D. Drive slowly around corners.
To prevent a trailer from rolling over, drive slowly around corners. The handbook says rollovers happen when you turn too fast. For trailers, it advises you to steer gently and go slowly around corners, ramps, off ramps, and curves. A speed that is safe for a straight truck or a single trailer may be too fast for doubles or triples. Slowing down around a corner reduces the chance that turning speed will tip the trailer. The passage ties rollover prevention directly to gentle steering and lower speed in turns.
4. Stopping distance can be affected by:
- Speed. ✓
- Temperature.
- Time of day.
- Traffic.
Answer: A. Speed.
Stopping distance can be affected by speed; as speed increases, the distance needed to stop increases. The handbook's stopping-distance figure shows that braking distance grows sharply with speed: doubling speed makes braking distance four times longer, and tripling it makes it nine times longer. It also says high speeds increase stopping distances, while slowing down reduces braking distance. The total stopping-distance formula is perception distance plus reaction distance plus braking distance, and the air-brake section adds brake lag for those systems. Temperature and time of day do not appear as parts of that formula or as factors in the speed discussion.
5. How does doubling your speed from 20 mph to 40 mph affect your vehicle's braking distance?
- It stays about the same.
- It increases slightly.
- It doubles.
- It quadruples. ✓
Answer: D. It quadruples.
Doubling your speed from 20 mph to 40 mph makes the braking distance four times longer. The handbook's stopping-distance figure says that when you go from 20 to 40 mph, the impact is four times greater and the braking distance is also four times longer. So the increase is not a small change or just double; it is four times the distance. The same passage shows the pattern continues at higher speeds, which reinforces that speed has a strong effect on braking distance.
6. A sign indicating a maximum safe speed:
- Is suggesting a driving speed, but vehicles may travel faster than the posted speed.
- Is suggesting a speed limit to be followed only by vehicles weighing more than 26,000 pounds.
- Should be followed and no vehicle should travel faster than the posted speed. ✓
- Is only applicable to automobiles.
Answer: C. Should be followed and no vehicle should travel faster than the posted speed.
A sign indicating a maximum safe speed should be followed, and no vehicle should travel faster than the posted speed. The handbook says that when there is a sign indicating "Maximum Safe Speed," you should never exceed the speed shown. It treats that sign as a speed you must stay at or below, not as a casual suggestion. So the safe and proper action is to follow the posted maximum safe speed and not go faster than it.
7. In poor weather, the driver of a double or triple should:
- Lead the way for other drivers.
- Drive on the shoulder of the road.
- Exceed the posted speed limit.
- Drive carefully, as the vehicle is prone to skidding. ✓
Answer: D. Drive carefully, as the vehicle is prone to skidding.
In poor weather, you should drive carefully, because a double or triple is more prone to skidding. The doubles and triples section of the handbook stresses how important it is to be very careful when you are pulling more than one trailer, and it says extra knowledge and skill are needed to pull multiple trailers safely in different traffic and driving environments. Poor weather is exactly the kind of condition that calls for that extra care, and a multiple-trailer rig is the last thing you want sliding around. Nothing in the handbook tells you to push the pace or use the shoulder instead.
8. Avoid needing to make sudden lane changes by:
- Using your horn to encourage other drivers to move out of your lane.
- Only driving slower than the posted speed limit.
- Watching the road ahead while driving. ✓
- Pulling off the road and waiting when there is high traffic.
Answer: C. Watching the road ahead while driving.
9. A curve's posted design speed is:
- Safe for buses.
- Safe for all vehicles, including buses.
- The minimum speed at which the curve should be driven.
- Not always safe for buses. ✓
Answer: D. Not always safe for buses.
A curve's posted design speed is not always safe for buses. The handbook says every banked curve has a safe design speed, and in good weather the posted speed is safe for cars. It may be too high for many buses. With good traction a bus may roll over; with poor traction it may slide off the curve. That is why you reduce speed for curves and treat the posted number as a car benchmark, not a guarantee for your bus. Another section adds that high-center-of-gravity trucks can roll over at a curve's posted speed limit.
10. A driver should always:
- Stay in the right lane.
- Have an emergency plan. ✓
- Stay in the left lane.
- Drive faster than the posted speed limit.
Answer: B. Have an emergency plan.
A driver should always have an emergency plan. The handbook's defensive driving section tells you to keep scanning for hazards, but it also explains the reason you scan: hazards can turn into emergencies, and spotting them early gives you time to plan a way out. When you see a hazard, you should think about what could develop and decide what you would do, then be ready to act on that plan. The book calls this being a prepared, defensive driver who improves safety for yourself and everyone else on the road.
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Last checked: 2026-10-17 · Verified from official source
Updated: · Based on the official driver handbook