Loads and disabled vehicles — Indiana Permit Test

Loads and disabled vehicles on the Indiana permit test — 5 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

A load extending more than four feet past the rear of a vehicle must show a red flag at its end by day and a red lamp, visible from 500 feet, at night.

Other drivers judge your length by your taillights and can run into a load that sticks out.

The red lamp must be mounted and visible from both sides and the rear at a distance of 500 feet.

Indiana Driver's Manual, p.57

If your car becomes disabled, even on the shoulder, turn on its hazard lights.

Other drivers need to see that your car is stopped, not moving slowly.

The disabled vehicle’s hazard lights, if available, should be turned on.

Indiana Driver's Manual, p.57

In the daytime, a disabled car must show two red flags, one about 100 feet in front and one about 100 feet behind.

The flags give drivers in both directions warning before they reach your car.

In the daytime, drivers of disabled cars must display two red flags: one approximately 100 feet in front of the car and the other approximately 100 feet behind it.

Indiana Driver's Manual, p.57

If your car is stopped within 500 feet of a curve, hilltop or other obstruction, a warning device must be at least 500 feet from the car.

Drivers coming over the hill or around the curve need the warning before they can see you.

If your car is stopped within 500 feet of a curve, hilltop, or other obstruction, a warning device must be displayed at least 500 feet from your car.

Indiana Driver's Manual, p.57

If a roadside emergency forces you out of the car, exit on the passenger side after checking for traffic and drop-offs.

Getting out on the traffic side puts you in the path of passing cars.

If you must exit the vehicle while on a roadside shoulder, exit the vehicle on the passenger side and only after checking your immediate vicinity for other motor vehicles, obstructions, or dangerous drop-offs or inclines.

Indiana Driver's Manual, p.60

On the test

At night, what must mark a load that sticks out more than four feet behind a vehicle?

A red lamp visible from 500 feet. Other drivers judge your length by your taillights and can run into a load that sticks out. Indiana Driver's Manual, p.57: “The red lamp must be mounted and visible from both sides and the rear at a distance of 500 feet.”

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 Indiana Driver's Manual, published by the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-10-03.