Colorado DMV Permit Practice Test 5
This set is weighted toward alcohol, drugs, and impairment. Colorado tests this area heavily and the questions are less about the legal limit than about what impairment does to you and what the consequences are: expressed consent, the penalties for refusal, how long alcohol stays in the body, and why combining a prescription or cold medicine with driving is treated the same way as drinking. Expect questions that ask you to choose the option that is true about impairment rather than the option that sounds severe, because several distractors are written to sound tough but say something the handbook does not. If you take one set on this topic, take it before the mixture sets, since understanding why blood alcohol concentration is not the same as sobriety makes several later questions much easier to reason through.
What is in this set
- Questions
- 25
- same length as the real exam
- Difficulty
- 8 easy · 13 medium · 4 hard
- Topics
- Alcohol and drugs 6 · Right-of-way 4 · Safe driving 4 · Speed limits 3 · Road signs 2 · Vehicle equipment 2 · Licence rules 2 · Emergencies 2
Take this set as a quiz
One question at a time, immediate feedback, and a review page that sends you to the rule you missed. Your answers are saved in this browser only, so you can close the tab and come back.
Study mode — all 25 questions, answers shown
-
Question 1 · Alcohol and drugs · medium
A friend argues that because cannabis is legal to purchase and use in Colorado, and they hold a medical cannabis card, driving after using it at home is lawful. What is the actual legal position on cannabis-impaired driving?
- A Driving while impaired by cannabis is unlawful, and a medical card changes nothing about the driving prohibition
- B Legal if the passenger in the vehicle is not using cannabis
- C Legal, provided the cannabis was purchased in Colorado and used at a private residence
- D Legal below a specific high-quantity purchase limit
Show the answer and why
A is correct. Legal retail and medical cannabis in Colorado changes the law of possession and use in private, not the law of the road: driving while under the influen...
-
Question 2 · Road signs · easy
On a white regulatory sign, a black symbol appears inside a red circle with a red slash running through it. What does this graphical construction communicate?
- A The symbol marks the location of a traffic camera
- B The action shown is mandatory for all vehicles
- C The action shown is permitted only during daylight
- D The action shown by the symbol is prohibited
Show the answer and why
C is correct. The red circle with a diagonal slash is the universal grammar of prohibition: whatever the inner symbol depicts, that movement is forbidden here.
-
Question 3 · Right-of-way · medium
You are driving on a street that comes to an end where it meets a wider through road, forming a T junction. There is no signal, and the cross road carries steady traffic. Who has the right of way?
- A You do, because you arrived at the junction first
- B Whoever is going faster has priority at unmarked junctions
- C You do, because turning traffic always yields only to oncoming vehicles on the same road
- D The traffic on the through road, and you must yield to vehicles travelling in both directions on it
Show the answer and why
D is correct. When your road ends at the junction with another, the through road keeps its priority: drivers on it have no reason to expect your vehicle to enter, slo...
-
Question 4 · Road signs · easy
The large rectangular signs along a highway showing route numbers, exit names and mile distances all share one background colour. What is it, and what does it signal?
- A White, marking regulatory route assignments
- B Blue, marking services available at the exit
- C Yellow, marking navigational hazards ahead
- D Green, marking guidance information: routes, directions and distances
Show the answer and why
D is correct. Green is the colour of the guidance family: route confirmations, destination distances, exit names and junction advance signs.
-
Question 5 · Right-of-way · medium
On a steep narrow mountain road with no room for two vehicles, an uphill driver meets a downhill driver. Which one has the right of way?
- A Neither — both must abandon their vehicles and proceed on foot
- B The uphill driver, because restarting on a steep grade is far harder and less controlled
- C The downhill driver, because gravity makes backing down safer
- D Whoever is carrying more passengers
Show the answer and why
B is correct. The rule favours the driver heading uphill, and the reasoning is entirely about who can recover afterwards.
-
Question 6 · Alcohol and drugs · hard
A driver has had two drinks and also used cannabis earlier in the evening, believing the substances offset each other — one stimulating alertness, one calming. What does research show about combining alcohol and cannabis before driving?
- A Their impairments compound: the combination degrades driving-related skills more than either substance alone, while the user perceives less impairment
- B The combination's effects are identical to the effects of the alcohol alone
- C The combination is lawful as long as each substance individually was used legally
- D They counteract each other, so the combination is safer than either alone
Show the answer and why
A is correct. Alcohol and cannabis impair through different mechanisms, and 'offsetting' is a folk theory with no support in the driving data: the combination impairs...
-
Question 7 · Safe driving · easy
You are driving on a city street when a funeral procession passes through an intersection ahead, cars following closely with headlights on and hazard flags. What is the appropriate conduct?
- A Do not cut into or break up the procession; let it pass through as a unit, and do not attempt to overtake it
- B Overtake the procession carefully whenever a gap between cars allows it
- C Sound your horn as a mark of respect as it passes
- D Follow the procession closely so as not to lose sight of it
Show the answer and why
A is correct. A funeral procession functions as a single moving unit: cars travel close together, often through signals as a group under escort, and the whole system...
-
Question 8 · Alcohol and drugs · medium
A driver is taking a legally prescribed medication whose label carries a prominent warning that it may cause drowsiness and should not be used while operating machinery. What is the legal status of driving under its influence?
- A Lawful, because the medication was prescribed by a licensed professional
- B Driving while impaired by the medication is unlawful; a lawful prescription does not authorise impaired driving, and the warning label is evidence the driver was on notice
- C Lawful if the prescription is less than a year old
- D Unlawful only if the driver also consumed alcohol
Show the answer and why
B is correct. The traffic law prohibits driving while under the influence of any drug that impairs — alcohol, illegal substances, and legal prescriptions alike.
-
Question 9 · Safe driving · easy
You enter a stretch of dense fog on a rural highway. Which headlight setting is correct, and why?
- A High beams, to project as much light as possible into the fog ahead
- B Hazard lights flashing while driving at normal speed
- C No lights at all, to preserve your night adaptation
- D Low beams, because high beams reflect off the fog droplets and create a wall of glare that reduces your own visibility
Show the answer and why
D is correct. Fog is a cloud of water droplets, and high beams feed it: light hits the droplets and scatters straight back at the driver, producing a glowing white cu...
-
Question 10 · Safe driving · medium
A light rain begins after two weeks of dry weather. Why do experienced drivers treat the first stretch of rainfall as unusually slippery?
- A Rain always falls hardest in the first minutes of a storm
- B Oil and dust accumulated on the pavement mix with the first water, creating a slick film before the rain washes them away
- C Cold rain lowers tyre pressure enough to reduce grip
- D Wet roads reflect headlights and blind oncoming drivers in the first minutes
Show the answer and why
B is correct. During dry weeks, the roadway collects a thin film of engine oil drips, rubber dust and general grime.
-
Question 11 · Alcohol and drugs · medium
A driver wants to sober up quickly after drinking. Which of the following actually reduces blood alcohol concentration?
- A Strong black coffee, which counteracts alcohol's effects on the brain
- B A cold shower and vigorous exercise, which accelerate metabolism
- C Fresh air and conversation, which restore judgement faster
- D Nothing but time; the liver processes alcohol at its own fixed rate, unaffected by coffee, showers, exercise or food
Show the answer and why
D is correct. Blood alcohol falls at the rate the liver can metabolise alcohol, and that rate is remarkably fixed from person to person and night to night — no coffee...
-
Question 12 · Right-of-way · easy
You and a driver approaching from your right both come to a complete stop at the same instant at an intersection where every approach has a stop sign. What does the rule require of you?
- A You must let the driver on your right proceed first
- B Whoever has the larger vehicle proceeds first
- C You may proceed first because you are already positioned to go straight
- D You must flash your headlights and wait for the other driver to acknowledge you
Show the answer and why
A is correct. When two vehicles stop at the same time at an all-way stop, the vehicle on the right goes first.
-
Question 13 · Vehicle equipment · medium
An adult passenger moves to the rear seat and leaves the belt undone because the trip is short. Which statement is correct?
- A Rear belts matter less, since the front structure absorbs most impact forces
- B Rear belts only begin to matter above roughly 40 mph
- C Modern restraint systems protect rear occupants adequately without belts
- D An unbelted rear passenger becomes a projectile that harms both themselves and whoever is seated ahead
Show the answer and why
D is correct. An unrestrained passenger goes on travelling at the speed the car was doing while the car itself stops, and whatever brings them to rest is the object t...
-
Question 14 · Alcohol and drugs · medium
A driver finishes drinking heavily at 1 a.m., sleeps six hours, and feels alert over coffee at 7 a.m. before a morning drive. What is the risk?
- A None; six hours of sleep eliminates alcohol faster than remaining awake
- B A substantial amount of alcohol may still be in the bloodstream; feeling alert does not mean being sober, and morning-after drivers are regularly charged with driving over the limit
- C Only the risk of drowsiness, not of alcohol
- D No risk, because alcohol leaves the body entirely during sleep
Show the answer and why
B is correct. The liver's rate does not care whether the drinker is asleep, and a heavy evening's alcohol can easily outlast a night's sleep: by the arithmetic of eli...
-
Question 15 · Vehicle equipment · easy
When is sounding the horn appropriate?
- A To warn another road user of danger or to make your presence known where that is necessary
- B To show irritation at a driver who is going too slowly
- C Whenever changing lanes, so other drivers can track you
- D To let pedestrians know that you do not intend to stop
Show the answer and why
A is correct. The horn exists as a warning device, and the rules frame it that way rather than as a means of expression.
-
Question 16 · Licence rules · easy
A friend offers you the questions they memorised from their own written test, believing it guarantees a pass. What is wrong with relying on that alone?
- A Forms vary and the point is to understand the rules, so memorised answers leave a driver unprepared for real decisions on the road
- B Nothing — the same answer key repeats on every form
- C Only the answer choices change, never the wording of the questions
- D Memorised answers are accepted, though they attract an extra fee
Show the answer and why
A is correct. Written tests draw from a pool rather than repeating one fixed paper, so recalled questions are a sample at best and a false confidence at worst.
-
Question 17 · Licence rules · medium
A traveller arrives with a valid licence issued by another country and intends to drive here for several months. What generally applies?
- A Any valid foreign licence is accepted indefinitely
- B Foreign licences are never recognised and must be replaced on arrival
- C An international driving permit removes the obligation entirely
- D A visitor may usually drive on it for a temporary stay, but establishing residency brings an obligation to obtain a state licence within the required period
Show the answer and why
D is correct. Recognition attaches to visitor status rather than to the licence itself, and the turning point is residency rather than elapsed time alone.
-
Question 18 · Speed limits · medium
You are driving on a rural road at the posted limit when a fog bank cuts your view ahead to a few car lengths. What principle governs how fast you should now be going?
- A The posted limit, because it was set with all conditions in mind
- B Twice the distance you can see, provided your brakes are good
- C You must be able to stop within the distance you can actually see to be clear; your speed must fit your sight distance, not the sign
- D The speed of the vehicle ahead, because its driver can see better than you
Show the answer and why
C is correct. The foundational speed principle is that you must never drive faster than permits stopping within the distance you know to be clear.
-
Question 19 · Right-of-way · hard
A lane down the centre of the road carries a solid yellow line on the outside and a broken yellow line on the inside. What is this lane for?
- A A reversible through lane whose direction depends on the hour
- B High-occupancy vehicles during peak hours
- C Left turns by traffic travelling in either direction — never for passing or through travel
- D Emergency vehicles making their way along the centre of the road
Show the answer and why
C is correct. This is a shared left-turn lane, and its layout is the message: a broken line facing each direction of travel, with a solid yellow boundary along each o...
-
Question 20 · Alcohol and drugs · medium
Two friends drink the same amount at the same pace; one ate a full meal beforehand, the other drank on an empty stomach. How does the meal actually affect their blood alcohol levels?
- A Food converts alcohol into water and speeds its elimination
- B Food neutralises alcohol, so the driver who ate has no alcohol in their system
- C Food slows the absorption of alcohol into the bloodstream, producing a lower peak level reached more gradually — but all the alcohol consumed still enters the blood
- D Food has no measurable effect on blood alcohol at all
Show the answer and why
C is correct. Food in the stomach slows the passage of alcohol into the small intestine, where most absorption occurs.
-
Question 21 · Emergencies · medium
The accelerator pedal sticks with the engine revving and the car accelerating on its own. What is the correct sequence of actions?
- A Switch the ignition off immediately at speed, then steer to the shoulder
- B Pump the pedal hard and keep driving until the engine loses power on its own
- C Pull the handbrake at speed to stop the car where you are
- D Shift to neutral, signal, steer to the side of the road, brake to a stop, then turn the ignition off
Show the answer and why
D is correct. Neutral is the escape lever in a stuck-throttle event: it disconnects the engine from the wheels instantly, so the revving engine becomes noise instead...
-
Question 22 · Speed limits · medium
On a long descent, a driver shifts into neutral to coast and save fuel. Why is this regarded as poor and unsafe practice?
- A Because with the drivetrain disengaged, engine braking is lost, speed builds quickly and the driver has less immediate control if something goes wrong
- B Because neutral damages the transmission on modern vehicles
- C Because neutral disables the power steering on most cars
- D Because coasting is illegal only for vehicles over a certain weight
Show the answer and why
A is correct. In neutral, the engine contributes nothing to slowing the vehicle, so gravity accelerates you down the grade unopposed except by the friction brakes — t...
-
Question 23 · Emergencies · hard
Your vehicle stalls on a railroad crossing just as the signals begin to flash. What is the best action?
- A Wave down following traffic to push you clear
- B Stay belted in and wait for the train to pass
- C Try once to restart and clear the crossing; if that fails, get everyone out and move well away from the tracks in the direction any train would be approaching from
- D Call roadside assistance and wait inside the vehicle
Show the answer and why
C is correct. Seconds are the only unit that matters here, and they are spent in a fixed order.
-
Question 24 · Safe driving · hard
A car in the lane to your left is stopped, waiting to make a left turn. The pavement to its right is wide enough for another vehicle. When may you pass it on the right?
- A Never; passing on the right is prohibited in every circumstance
- B Only when the turning vehicle signals you forward with a hand gesture
- C When you can do so safely, staying on the paved roadway and without driving onto the shoulder
- D Only between sunrise and sunset
Show the answer and why
C is correct. Passing on the right is permitted when the vehicle ahead is making or waiting to make a left turn and the pavement to its right is sufficient to pass sa...
-
Question 25 · Speed limits · easy
You are comfortable cruising at 40 in the right lane of a 65 mph freeway on a clear day with light traffic, and cars are stacking up behind you. What does the law say about driving so slowly that you disrupt the normal flow?
- A Drivers behind must wait; slower is always safer, whatever the posted minimum
- B Driving significantly below the normal flow without cause, where a minimum speed applies, is itself a violation because it creates speed differences and forces overtaking manoeuvres
- C Only trucks are required to maintain the normal flow
- D You may drive at any speed provided your hazard lights are on
Show the answer and why
B is correct. Speed limits work in both directions: you may not exceed the maximum, and where a minimum applies — as it does on limited-access highways — you may not...