Avoiding collisions — Connecticut Permit Test

Avoiding collisions on the Connecticut permit test — 7 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

In avoiding a collision, drivers have three options: stop, turn or speed up.

Many drivers freeze because they think braking is the only choice. Naming three is what unsticks them.

In avoiding a collision, drivers have three options: stop, turn or speed up.
Connecticut Driver's Manual, p.40

With antilock brakes, press on the brake pedal as hard as you can and keep pressing; the pedal may push back, and you must not let up on it.

The pushback feels like a fault and makes drivers lift off. Lifting off is what switches the system off.

You might feel the brake pedal pushing back when the ABS is working. Do not let up on the brake pedal.
Connecticut Driver's Manual, p.40

Without antilock brakes, apply the brakes as hard as you can without locking them, and if they lock and the vehicle starts to skid, let up on the pedal and push down again as soon as it stops skidding.

A locked wheel cannot steer and barely slows. Releasing and reapplying is how you keep it turning.

As soon as the vehicle stops skidding, push down on the brake pedal again. Keep doing this until the vehicle has stopped.
Connecticut Driver's Manual, p.40

In most cases you can turn the vehicle more quickly than you can stop it, so turning is worth considering to avoid a collision.

Stopping needs distance you may not have. Steering needs only a gap, and there is usually one somewhere.

In most cases, you can turn the vehicle more quickly than you can stop it.
Connecticut Driver's Manual, p.40

Always steer in the direction you want the vehicle to go, and be ready to keep it under control once you have turned away or changed lanes.

Drivers steer away from one crash into the next one because they stopped steering as soon as they missed the first.

Always steer in the direction you want the vehicle to go.
Connecticut Driver's Manual, p.40

It is generally better to run off the road than to crash head-on into another vehicle.

A head-on crash adds both speeds together. Leaving the road is one vehicle's worth of energy instead of two.

Remember that it is generally better to run off the road than to crash head-on into another vehicle.
Connecticut Driver's Manual, p.40

Sometimes it is best or necessary to speed up to avoid a collision, for example when another vehicle is about to hit you from the side or behind and there is room ahead.

If the danger is behind you, braking brings it closer. Accelerating is the only thing that opens the gap.

This may happen when another vehicle is about to hit you from the side or from behind and there is room to the front to get out of danger.
Connecticut Driver's Manual, p.40

On the test

What three options does a driver have to avoid a collision?

Stop, turn or speed up. Many drivers freeze because they think braking is the only choice. Naming three is what unsticks them. Connecticut Driver's Manual, p.40: “In avoiding a collision, drivers have three options: stop, turn or speed up.”

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.

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Where these come from

Every rule here is checked against Connecticut Driver's Manual, published by the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-16.