Brake failure — District of Columbia Permit Test
Brake failure on the District of Columbia permit test — 2 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
If your brakes fail, first try pumping the brake pedal (non-ABS systems); if that does not restore braking, use the emergency (parking) brake.
Pumping can build back pressure in older brakes, and the parking brake works on its own if the main brakes are gone.
Try pumping the brake pedal [non-ABS systems].
If your brakes fail, shift to a lower gear if possible, and if necessary rub the sides of the tires against the side of the curb.
A lower gear uses the engine to slow the wheels, and the curb's friction scrubs off speed when nothing else will.
Shift to a lower gear, if possible
On the test
Your brakes fail and pumping does not help. What should you use next?
The parking brake. Pumping can build back pressure in older brakes, and the parking brake works on its own if the main brakes are gone. DC Driver Manual, p.54: “Try pumping the brake pedal [non-ABS systems].”
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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All District of Columbia permit topics
Where these come from
Every rule here is checked against DC Driver Manual, published by the District of Columbia Department of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-10-05.
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/DC.pdf (DC Driver Manual (English), Rev. 7/29/2021, District of Columbia Department of Motor Vehicles, fetched 2026-10-05 from the Wayback Machine's original-bytes capture of dmv.dc.gov; sha256 pinned in SOURCES.json)
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/DC.pages.txt (the plain pdftotext fixture every citation here was cut from and verified against; sha256 pinned in SOURCES.json)
- https://dmv.dc.gov/publication/dc-dmv-automobile-driver-manual (read 2026-10-05; links only the 2023 Issuu flipbooks)
- https://issuu.com/dcdmv/docs/dc_dmv_driver_manual_english_revised_final (the current 2023 edition, read 2026-10-05 from its public page images to diff against the pinned edition; not pinnable)
- https://dmv.dc.gov/service/knowledge-tests (read 2026-10-05; states no count or mark for the knowledge test)
- https://dcregs.dc.gov/Common/DCMR/RuleList.aspx?ChapterNum=18-1 (18 DCMR chapter 1, sections 100-114, read 2026-10-05; section 104 sets what the examination covers and states no figure)
- https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/50-1401.01 (D.C. Code 50-1401.01, read 2026-10-05; requires a knowledge examination and states no figure)