General Knowledge Practice Questions

Answer: Turn on your lights on low beam

Turn your headlights on whenever the light is poor, not just after dark. Low beam makes you visible at sunset or on a dark day without dazzling drivers coming towards you. Sunglasses cut down what you can see, and hazard lights are a warning that you are stopped or in trouble.

Answer: When within 200 metres of the vehicle ahead or an oncoming one

Always dip your lights for oncoming traffic and for the vehicle you are following, because high beam blinds the driver ahead through the mirrors just as it blinds one coming at you. The distance this paper works to is 200 metres, either way.

Answer: Yes, at any time

Your vehicle must be registered and licensed, and the number plate is how it is identified on the road, so it must be readable at all times. This paper allows no exception for a towbar or a bicycle rack. If one covers the rear plate, the number must be shown some other way.

Answer: Keep at least 60 metres behind heavy vehicles or other vehicles towing caravans

A caravan sways and hides the road behind you, so keep a long gap and give faster traffic room to come past. The distance this paper works to behind heavy vehicles and other vehicles towing caravans is 60 metres. Driving far below the limit or stopping in the road is not the answer.

Answer: No, not under any circumstances

Passengers travel in the seats of the vehicle, never on any other part of it and never in the caravan being towed. A caravan sways under tow and the person inside is out of your sight and out of your reach, so no speed and no age makes it allowed.

Answer: Check your tyre pressure, and if necessary, increase it to what the manufacturer recommends

Check the tyres before a long or fast trip and before you load the car up. Tyres must be inflated to the maker's specification and carry at least 1mm of tread, because a tyre bursting at speed has killed many people. A map and a meal do nothing for the vehicle.

Answer: Must report the accident to the Police Station nearest to where the accident happened within 24 hours

If you do not give your name and address to the person with grounds to ask for them, you must report the crash at a police station or to a police officer as soon as you reasonably can, and within twenty four hours at the latest. Injury or none, the report is still owed.

Answer: Render every assistance and take immediate steps to have an ambulance notified. Then call the Police

Where someone is hurt you must stop, see who has been injured and give all the help you can, which means having an ambulance called first. The report to the police follows. Waiting seven days, or weighing up the damage first, leaves an injured person without help.

Answer: You intend to move to the right, at any time

Signal what you are about to do, not what you are already doing. The right indicator says you are moving to the right, whether that is turning right, overtaking or pulling out from the side of the road. Slowing down and stopping have their own signals.

Answer: After today you must not drive the car until it has been repaired, passed another inspection and registered

Your vehicle must be registered and roadworthy before you drive it, and driving one that is not is against the law. The registration runs out today and the vehicle has failed its inspection, so it stays where it is until it is repaired, passes another inspection and is registered.

Answer: Adjust the seat forward so it's right for you

You need to reach the wheel and the pedals properly to keep full control, and all adjustments are made before you drive off. The seat moves, so move it forward until it fits you. Sitting stretched out, or propped up on a cushion, leaves you short of the controls.

Answer: Slow down to a speed that will allow you to stop to avoid crashing into farm animals on the road

The yellow sign warns you that farm animals may be on the road for the next 5 kilometres. It is a warning, not a speed limit, and 5 KM is a distance. Reduce speed whenever you may meet animals, to a speed at which you can stop for one standing in the road.

Answer: Slow down and be prepared to give way to vehicles travelling in the opposite direction

The red triangle reading GIVE WAY tells you to slow down, and to stop if you must, giving precedence to other traffic. A bridge narrows the road to one lane, so the traffic you give precedence to is whatever is coming the other way. You do not have to stop every time.

Answer: Slow down and watch for traffic controllers and instructions

A road repairs sign means the road ahead is not as you expect it. Slow down, look for the further signs that give the detailed instructions, and watch for the people directing traffic, whose instructions you follow. Holding your speed, or stopping dead, puts them and you at risk.

Answer: Slow down and give them plenty of room

Reduce speed whenever you meet animals on the road. A horse is easily startled, so slow down and leave plenty of room as you pass. The horn is only for safety, and a blast of it, or speeding by, is exactly what frightens a horse and puts the rider on the ground.

Answer: At least three metres from the dividing lines

A double continuous line must not be crossed or driven to the right of, so a parked car has to leave traffic room to pass on its own side without straddling it. The picture shows the car at the left edge, the gap measured to the double line. The figure this paper works to is at least three metres from the lines.

Answer: Mirror A

A side mirror is set to show the lane beside and behind you, with only a thin strip of your own car at the edge. The top mirror does that, and the traffic behind is in it. The middle one is aimed down at the road surface and the bottom one is aimed up and in, so both hide the traffic.

Answer: You must obey the signs that are displayed at all times

Road works signs are there for your safety and for the safety of the people working on the road, and they apply for as long as they are up. Obey every one of them, day or night, workers in sight or not, and do not go over any temporary speed limit they set.

Answer: Check your mirrors and blind spots for pedestrians, bicycles or other vehicles

Never open a door until the vehicle is stopped and you are sure it is safe. Check the mirrors and look behind you for anyone coming past, since a cyclist or a passing car reaches your door before you notice them. Leave by the left side of the vehicle where you can.

Answer: Make sure your vehicle has enough fuel, oil, water and the correct tyre pressure

Make sure the vehicle is roadworthy before a long trip: fuel, oil, water, and tyres inflated to the maker's specification. A small fault in town becomes a breakdown far from help. A map does not keep the car running, and anything taken to calm your nerves is a drug that can affect you.