Bad Weather & Night Driving — Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania permit practice test: 355 free practice questions (140 official sample questions · Official driver handbook). Official test format: 18 Q, pass 15. Bad Weather & Night Driving: 26 questions. Updated

Rain, snow, ice, fog and night driving: visibility, traction and headlight use.

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Topic / MetricValue
TopicBad Weather & Night Driving
License testPennsylvania Car learner's permit test
Topic questions26 (7% of 355 total)
Review statusThis topic page is still being reviewed against the official handbook. Until review is finished it is hidden from search engines.

Official handbook

pa.gov ✓ Verified from official source

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Questions (26)

1. IF THE REAR OF YOUR VEHICLE STARTS TO SKID LEFT, YOU SHOULD:
  1. Steer left ✓
  2. Hit your brakes
  3. Accelerate
  4. Steer right

Answer: A. Steer left

If the rear of your vehicle skids to the left, steer left — turn the wheel in the direction you want the vehicle to go. The handbook's skid section says that when your vehicle starts to skid on a wet or icy road, you should look and steer where you want to go, and it gives the specific case: rear skidding left means turn the wheel left. Steering right is the correction for a rear skid to the right. The same section warns against braking while skidding, because hitting the brakes makes the skid worse, and you risk locking the wheels and losing all steering control.
Source: Official sample question (2026-10-17) · Official handbook: PA Driver’s Manual, Chapter 3
2. WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING IS TRUE ABOUT DRIVING ON A WET ROADWAY?
  1. As you drive faster, your tires become less effective ✓
  2. Water does not affect cars with good tires
  3. Deeper water is less dangerous
  4. As you decrease your speed, the roadway becomes more slippery

Answer: A. As you drive faster, your tires become less effective

Source: Official sample question (2026-10-17) · Official handbook: PA Driver’s Manual, Chapter 3
3. IF A VEHICLE USING HIGH BEAMS COMES TOWARD YOU, YOU SHOULD:
  1. Turn on your high beams
  2. Turn off your headlights
  3. Sound your horn
  4. Flash your high beams ✓

Answer: D. Flash your high beams

Flash your high beams quickly a few times when a vehicle using high beams comes toward you. The Pennsylvania manual says that if an oncoming vehicle has high beams on, you should flash your high beams a few times. If the other driver does not dim their lights, look toward the right side of the road. That keeps the glare from blinding you and helps you stay on course until the vehicle passes. The manual also says not to punish the other driver by leaving your bright lights on, because both of you may be blinded.
Source: Official sample question (2026-10-17) · Official handbook: PA Driver’s Manual, Chapter 3
4. IF A VEHICLE USING HIGH BEAMS COMES TOWARD YOU, YOU SHOULD LOOK TOWARDS _____ OF THE ROAD.
  1. Either side
  2. The center
  3. The right side ✓
  4. The left side

Answer: C. The right side

Source: Official sample question (2026-10-17) · Official handbook: PA Driver’s Manual, Chapter 3
5. WHEN DRIVING ON WET ROADS, YOU SHOULD:
  1. Drive the speed limit
  2. Drive slightly faster than the speed limit
  3. Drive 5 to 10 miles below the speed limit ✓
  4. Stay close to the vehicle ahead 100. WHEN DRIVING ON WET ROADS, YOU SHOULD:
  5. Increase following distance to 5 or 6 seconds
  6. Decrease following distance to 2 seconds
  7. Not be concerned about following distance
  8. Maintain the 4-second following distance rule 101. ROADS FREEZE MORE QUICKLY WHEN THEY ARE:
  9. Flat
  10. Curvy
  11. In the sun
  12. Shaded 102. ROADS BECOME VERY SLIPPERY:
  13. When it has been raining for an hour or more
  14. The day after it rains
  15. For the first 10 to 15 minutes of a rain storm
  16. Right after the rain has stopped 103. HYDROPLANING IS USUALLY CAUSED BY:
  17. Excessive stops
  18. Sudden stops
  19. Sudden turns
  20. Excessive speed 104. HYDROPLANING CAN BE HELPED BY DRIVING:
  21. Through shallow water
  22. Faster
  23. Slower
  24. Through deep water 105. WHEN DRIVING IN FOG, YOU SHOULD USE YOUR _________.
  25. Low beam headlights
  26. High beam headlights
  27. Parking lights
  28. Hazard flashers 106. COMPARED TO DRIVING DURING THE DAY, DRIVING AT NIGHT IS:
  29. Less dangerous
  30. No more of less dangerous
  31. More dangerous
  32. Easier on your eyes 107. ANYTHING THAT REQUIRES YOU TO _______ COULD CAUSE YOU TO CRASH.
  33. Take your eyes off the road
  34. Take your hands off the wheel
  35. Take your attention away from the driving task
  36. All of the above 108. DISTRACTED DRIVERS ARE AT A GREATER RISK OF A CRASH WHEN THEY ARE USING WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING:
  37. CD player
  38. Radio
  39. Cell phone
  40. All of the above 109. WHEN YOU ARE IN A LINE OF TRAFFIC THAT IS CROSSING A RAILROAD TRACK THAT HAS NO SIGNALS OR GATES:
  41. You have the right of way and do not need to check for trains
  42. You may pass slower drivers crossing the track
  43. You need to make sure there is space to get all the way across the tracks without stopping, before you start to cross
  44. All of the above 110. WHEN APPROACHING A STOPPED SCHOOL BUS WITH ITS RED LIGHTS FLASHING AND ITS STOP ARM EXTENDED, YOU MUST:
  45. Stop 5 feet away from the bus
  46. Stop only if you see children are present
  47. Stop and remain stopped until it appears safe to proceed
  48. Stop and remain stopped until the red lights stop flashing and the stop arm has been withdrawn

Answer: C. Drive 5 to 10 miles below the speed limit

Source: Official sample question (2026-10-17) · Official handbook: PA Driver’s Manual, Chapter 3
6. PREPARING TO SMOKE AND SMOKING WHILE DRIVING:
  1. Do not affect driving abilities
  2. Help maintain driver alertness
  3. Are distracting activities ✓
  4. Are not distracting activities

Answer: C. Are distracting activities

Lighting up and smoking while you drive are distracting activities, so they work against safe driving rather than helping it. The manual's review questions group smoking and getting ready to smoke with other things a driver does with their hands and attention while the vehicle is moving. In the same review set, drivers who eat and drink behind the wheel are said to have trouble controlling their vehicles, which shows how the manual treats these in-car habits. Handling a cigarette, lighting it, and putting it out all pull your hands and eyes away from the road, so the manual lists smoking as a distraction rather than something harmless.
Source: Official sample question (2026-10-17) · Official handbook: PA Driver’s Manual, Chapter 3
7. AT NIGHT, IT IS HARDEST TO SEE:
  1. Road signs
  2. Pedestrians ✓
  3. Other motorists
  4. Street lights

Answer: B. Pedestrians

At night, pedestrians are the hardest thing to see. The handbook says that with less light you judge distances and see colors and side vision less well, so you are more likely to be surprised by something unexpected in the road. It states plainly that compared to signs and other roadside objects, pedestrians are hardest to see at night. That is why you must use your headlights properly — to help you see and to help you be seen.
Source: Official sample question (2026-10-17) · Official handbook: PA Driver’s Manual, Chapter 3
8. Compared to driving during the day, driving at night is:
  1. Less dangerous.
  2. No more or less dangerous.
  3. More dangerous. ✓
  4. Easier on your eyes.

Answer: C. More dangerous.

Driving at night is more dangerous than driving during the day. The handbook states this directly: nighttime has the highest crash rates, and traffic fatality rates are several times higher at night than in daylight. It gives three reasons — your vision is severely limited at night, glare from other vehicles' headlights can temporarily blind you, and more tired or impaired drivers tend to be on the road then. That combination of poor visibility and riskier traffic is what makes night driving the more dangerous choice.
Official handbook: Pennsylvania Driver's Manual (PUB 95), Chapter 3 - Learning to Drive, p. 43
9. Smoking and preparing to smoke while driving:
  1. Do not affect driving abilities.
  2. Help maintain driver alertness.
  3. Are distracting activities. ✓
  4. Are not distracting activities.

Answer: C. Are distracting activities.

Smoking and preparing to smoke while driving are distracting activities. The manual's Chapter 3 review asks this exact item and files it with other things a driver does with their hands and attention while the car is moving, such as eating and drinking. Nothing in that review treats smoking as harmless or as a way to stay alert. Anything that pulls your hands and eyes away from the road competes with the driving task, which is why the manual counts it as a distraction rather than a neutral habit.
Official handbook: Pennsylvania Driver's Manual (PUB 95), Chapter 3 - Learning to Drive, p. 69
10. To drive safely at night, you should:
  1. Increase your following distance.
  2. Not drive if you are tired.
  3. Make sure your headlights are working properly.
  4. All of the above. ✓

Answer: D. All of the above.

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Last checked: 2026-10-17 · Verified from official source

Updated: · 140 official sample questions · Official driver handbook