Bad Weather & Night Driving — West Virginia
West Virginia CDL practice test: 426 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: 24 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 | West Virginia CDL permit (CLP) knowledge tests |
| Topic questions | 24 (6% of 426 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 (24)
1. When driving in fog, you should:
- Use your horn.
- Use the low beam lights. ✓
- Use the high beam lights.
- Use the heater.
Answer: B. Use the low beam lights.
When driving in fog, use your low beam headlights (along with fog lights) for the best visibility, even during the day. The fog section of the handbook says that if you must drive in fog, you should slow down before entering it and use low-beam headlights and fog lights for the best visibility, even in daytime. It also tells you to watch for other drivers who have not turned their lights on. The separate lighting passage about high beams is about clear conditions where high beams are safe and legal, not fog, so the fog guidance points to low beams.
2. An air supply control in its "emergency" position will:
- Turn on the air supply.
- Apply the trailer emergency brakes. ✓
- Prevent a skid.
- Accelerate the vehicle.
Answer: B. Apply the trailer emergency brakes.
An air supply control in the "emergency" position applies the trailer emergency brakes. The handbook describes the trailer air supply control as the valve you use to manage the tractor protection valve. Pushing it in sends air to the trailer; pulling it out cuts that air off and sets the trailer emergency brakes. The same section says the emergency position is for shutting off the air and applying those brakes, while normal is for pulling a trailer. That matches the answer.
3. The best way to notice if a trailer has begun to skid is to:
- Ask another driver.
- Use your mirrors to determine if the trailer has left the lane. ✓
- Look at the skid sensor.
- Feel the tractor move.
Answer: B. Use your mirrors to determine if the trailer has left the lane.
The best way to notice if a trailer has begun to skid is to use your mirrors to see if the trailer has left the lane. The handbook says the earliest and best way to recognize a trailer skid is by seeing it in your mirrors. When you brake hard, check the mirrors to make sure the trailer stays in place. If the trailer swings out of your lane, it becomes very hard to prevent a jackknife. So watching the mirrors gives you the first sign of a skid.
4. When being approached by a vehicle using bright headlights while driving at night, you can avoid being blinded by the headlights by:
- Wearing sunglasses.
- Closing your eyes.
- Glancing to the side of road. ✓
- Using your high beams.
Answer: C. Glancing to the side of road.
5. If you see lights ahead while driving in fog:
- You can assume the lights are on the road.
- It may be a reflection.
- It may be an optical illusion.
- The lights may not indicate where the road is as the vehicle may have pulled off the roadway. ✓
Answer: D. The lights may not indicate where the road is as the vehicle may have pulled off the roadway.
The lights ahead may not show where the road goes, because the vehicle they belong to may have pulled off the roadway. The fog section tells you to watch for vehicles on the side of the roadway. It warns that taillights or headlights you see ahead are not a reliable sign of where the road runs, since the vehicle may not be on the road at all. Instead of steering toward those lights, the handbook says to use roadside highway reflectors as your guide for how the road curves ahead. That makes the lights unreliable as a path marker.
6. The best way to recognize that your trailer has begun to skid is by:
- Seeing other drivers' faces.
- Seeing it in your mirrors. ✓
- Feeling it.
- Listening to the radio.
Answer: B. Seeing it in your mirrors.
The best way to catch a trailer skid early is by seeing it in your mirrors. The handbook's trailer skid procedure starts with recognizing the skid, and it says the earliest and best way to notice the trailer has started to skid is by watching it in your mirrors. It adds that whenever you brake hard, you should check the mirrors to confirm the trailer is staying where it belongs, because once the trailer swings out of your lane a jackknife becomes very hard to prevent. So the skill it teaches is a visual habit: hard braking means a mirror check.
7. What is black ice?
- A thick layer of ice on the road
- A thin layer of ice on the road ✓
- Ice that is black from debris on the road
- Ice that is easily seen
Answer: B. A thin layer of ice on the road
Black ice is a thin layer of ice on the road that is clear enough to see the pavement underneath. The handbook describes black ice as a thin, clear coating that lets the pavement show through, so the road looks wet rather than icy. It also says to watch for black ice whenever the temperature is below freezing and the road looks wet. That matches a thin layer of ice on the road, not a thick slab or ice colored by debris.
8. When entering fog, you should:
- Put on your high beam headlights.
- Increase your speed.
- Turn up the volume of the radio.
- Slow down. ✓
Answer: D. Slow down.
Slow down before you enter fog and be ready to reduce your speed as visibility drops. The handbook says fog can appear without warning and visibility can get worse quickly. It advises watching for fog and slowing down before you enter it, rather than expecting it to thin out. If you must drive, it says to obey fog warning signs and use low-beam headlights and fog lights. Slowing down fits the handbook's main warning about fog: conditions can change fast, so you need to be ready to drive at a safer speed.
9. What should a driver do if their vehicle hydroplanes?
- Accelerate.
- Use the brakes.
- Release the accelerator and push in the clutch. ✓
- Take the vehicle out of gear.
Answer: C. Release the accelerator and push in the clutch.
10. As temperatures begin to rise and ice on road surfaces begin to melt:
- It is especially safe to drive.
- The road will become more slippery. ✓
- Traction will increase.
- It will be easier to identify slippery spots.
Answer: B. The road will become more slippery.
When ice starts to melt as temperatures rise, the road will become more slippery. The handbook warns that when the temperature climbs to where ice begins melting, the surface gets even more slippery, so you should slow down more. That is why the correct choice is that the road becomes more slippery. Melting ice turns wet, and the handbook says wet ice is much more slippery than ice that is not wet. This is a traction problem, not an improvement.
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Last checked: 2026-10-17 · Verified from official source
Updated: · Based on the official driver handbook