General Driving Knowledge — South Carolina
South Carolina CDL practice test: 447 free practice questions (Based on the official driver handbook). The official format is not yet verified; check the official site before your test. General Driving Knowledge: 152 questions.
Questions that do not fit a single topic: lane use, turning, signalling and other rules of the road.
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 | General Driving Knowledge |
| License test | South Carolina CDL permit (CLP) knowledge tests |
| Topic questions | 152 (34% of 447 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 (152)
1. What is used to warn people about hazardous materials?
- Placards ✓
- Flashing lights
- Color-coded pieces of tape
- License plate stickers
Answer: A. Placards
Placards are used to warn people about hazardous materials. According to the handbook, placards are signs placed on the outside of a vehicle and on bulk packages to warn others about hazardous materials. They identify the hazard class of the cargo, and a placarded vehicle must carry at least four identical placards that are readable from all four directions. That directly matches the warning purpose asked about. The other choices are not described in the passages as the required way to warn people about hazardous materials.
2. Looking far ahead of your vehicle while driving is:
- Discouraged, as there is little you can do about something far up the road.
- Encouraged to help you identify hazards as early as possible. ✓
- Not permitted.
Answer: B. Encouraged to help you identify hazards as early as possible.
Looking far ahead is encouraged so you can identify hazards as early as possible. The handbook says many drivers do not look far enough ahead. Because stopping or changing lanes takes distance, you need to see what traffic is doing and have room to make those moves safely. It recommends looking 12 to 15 seconds ahead and shifting your attention back and forth between near and far. That supports looking ahead as a way to spot hazards early rather than waiting until you must react suddenly.
3. Which type of vehicle is most prone to the “crack-the-whip” effect?
- A five-axle tractor semi-trailer
- A three-axle tractor semi-trailer
- A bobtail tractor
- A triple trailer ✓
Answer: D. A triple trailer
A triple trailer is the vehicle most prone to the crack-the-whip effect. The handbook says doubles and triples are less stable than other commercial vehicles and are more likely to roll over because of the crack-the-whip effect. It warns that the last trailer is the one most likely to turn over, so a rig with three trailers has the greatest exposure among these choices. The single-trailer tractor combinations do not carry that same multiple-trailer warning.
4. Hazardous materials should be loaded and unloaded:
- Away from heat sources. ✓
- Near heat, if possible.
- With sharp objects.
- By being rolled.
Answer: A. Away from heat sources.
Hazardous materials should be loaded and unloaded away from heat sources. The handbook's loading section says many hazardous products become more dangerous when exposed to heat, and it tells you to load hazardous materials away from heat sources. It also says to protect containers during loading, which fits with keeping them out of situations that could damage them. That direct instruction makes keeping hazmat away from heat the correct choice.
5. On a leaf spring:
- Leaves should shift.
- Leaves can be missing.
- Leaves should not be broken. ✓
Answer: C. Leaves should not be broken.
Leaves on a leaf spring should not be broken; the handbook treats broken leaves as a defect. The Texas CDL handbook says to check for leaves that are missing or broken and calls any defect dangerous. It also notes that if one-fourth or more leaves are missing, the vehicle is put out of service. Broken leaves fall under that same defect category, so a leaf spring with broken leaves does not pass the safety check.
6. When preparing to enter traffic, you should do all of the following, except:
- Wait for a large gap between vehicles.
- Be prepared for your vehicle to accelerate slowly, especially if it is loaded.
- Make sure you can completely cross traffic, if necessary, without interfering with traffic.
- Assume other drivers will make room for your much larger vehicle. ✓
Answer: D. Assume other drivers will make room for your much larger vehicle.
When preparing to enter traffic, you should not assume other drivers will make room for your much larger vehicle. The handbook's section on space needed to cross or enter traffic says you must judge the gap using your vehicle's size and weight. Slow acceleration and the room a large vehicle takes mean you may need a much larger gap than a car, and you should allow more room when heavily loaded. Before starting across, you must be sure you can get all the way across before traffic reaches you. Nothing in the handbook says other drivers will open a space for you, so that assumption is the exception.
7. The minimum size of placards identifying hazardous materials is:
- Four inches.
- Six and one-quarter inches.
- Nine and three-quarter inches.
- 10 and three-quarter inches. ✓
Answer: D. 10 and three-quarter inches.
8. The National Response Center must be notified of an incident resulting in any of the following, except:
- Death.
- Injury requiring hospitalization.
- Injury not requiring hospitalization. ✓
Answer: C. Injury not requiring hospitalization.
The National Response Center does not have to be notified for an injury that does not require hospitalization. The handbook's notification list covers a hazardous materials incident where someone is killed or an injured person needs hospital care. It also covers major property damage, a long evacuation, road or facility closures, fire, breakage, spillage, radioactive or infectious contamination, and other continuing dangers. A hurt person who does not need hospitalization is not one of the listed triggers, so it is the exception among these choices.
9. Identification numbers assigned to chemicals can be found:
- In the DOT Emergency Response Guidebook. ✓
- In the truck's operation manual.
- On the EPA’s website.
- At fuel stations.
Answer: A. In the DOT Emergency Response Guidebook.
10. What is a bobtail tractor?
- A tractor without a trailer ✓
- A tractor attached to two trailers
- A tractor with a tank
Answer: A. A tractor without a trailer
A bobtail tractor is a tractor without a trailer. The combination vehicles section of the handbook describes driving "bobtail" tractors and defines them right there as tractors without semitrailers. The same passage adds that these tractors can be hard to stop smoothly — they actually take longer to stop than a tractor-semitrailer loaded to maximum gross weight. So the term refers to the tractor running on its own, with no trailer hooked up behind it.
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Last checked: 2026-10-17 · Not yet verified
Updated: · Based on the official driver handbook