Causes of collisions — California Permit Test

Causes of collisions on the California permit test — 4 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

The most common causes of collisions include driver distractions, unsafe speed and improper turns.

None of them is bad luck. Each is something the driver was doing at the time.

The most common causes of collisions are:

California Driver’s Handbook, p.77

Other common causes of collisions are not following the right-of-way rules, not following stop signals and signs, and driving on the wrong side of the road.

Each one is a driver taking a turn that belonged to somebody else.

Not following the right-of-way rules.

California Driver’s Handbook, p.77

A vehicle traveling faster or slower than the flow of traffic is a common cause of collisions.

The danger is the difference in speed, and it works in both directions.

A vehicle traveling faster or slower than the flow of traffic.

California Driver’s Handbook, p.77

If you see a vehicle’s emergency flashers ahead, slow down, because there may be a collision or other road emergency, and pass carefully.

Flashers ahead mean something has already happened, and you are arriving at it.

If you see a vehicle’s emergency flashers ahead, slow down. There may be a collision or other road emergency.

California Driver’s Handbook, p.77

On the test

Which of these is named as a most common cause of collisions?

Driver distractions. None of them is bad luck. Each is something the driver was doing at the time. California Driver’s Handbook, p.77: “The most common causes of collisions are:”

How this works

Most practice tests hand you a bank of questions and leave the manual somewhere else. This one puts them together.

You read one law and the reason behind it, then answer a question on that law while it is still fresh. Get it right and you move on; get it wrong and you have found the gap while it is cheap to fix, not on the morning of the exam.

Learning one rule at a time, and proving it immediately, is what turns a manual you skimmed into something you actually know — and it makes studying feel like getting somewhere rather than like waiting to find out.

What it costs

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Where these come from

Every rule here is checked against California Driver’s Handbook, published by the California Department of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-21.