Curves in bad weather — District of Columbia Permit Test
Curves in bad weather on the District of Columbia permit test — 3 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
Be more concerned about curves in wet weather, even more cautious on snow, and most cautious on ice.
Curves are where tires slip, and each step from wet to snow to ice gives them less grip.
Be more concerned about curves in wet weather, even more cautious on snow and most cautious on ice.
On a curve posted for 35 mph in good weather, a safe speed may be only 20 mph in wet weather.
A wet curve gives your tires much less grip, so the posted speed can push you off the road.
safe speed may only be 20 miles per hour in wet weather and only 5 miles per hour or less on ice and snow.
On a curve posted for 35 mph in good weather, a safe speed may be only 5 mph or less on ice and snow.
On ice, the tires have almost no grip, so a curve can only be taken at a crawl.
safe speed may only be 20 miles per hour in wet weather and only 5 miles per hour or less on ice and snow.
On the test
On which surface should you be most cautious on a curve?
On an icy road. Curves are where tires slip, and each step from wet to snow to ice gives them less grip. DC Driver Manual, p.45: “Be more concerned about curves in wet weather, even more cautious on snow and most cautious on ice.”
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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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)