Air bags — Michigan Permit Test
Air bags on the Michigan permit test — 3 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
Drivers should sit with at least 10 inches between the center of the breastbone and the center of the steering wheel.
An air bag inflates with great force, and the space lets it fill before it reaches you.
It is recommended that drivers sit with at least 10 inches of space between the center of their breastbone and the center of the steering wheel.
Children ages 12 and younger should ride in the rear seat to avoid injury from an air bag in a crash.
Air bags are built for adult bodies, and they can badly hurt a child sitting in front.
Parents or guardians are encouraged to seat all children ages 12 and younger in the rear seat of the vehicle to avoid potential injury from an air bag in the event of a crash.
Seat belts remain the best protection in rollover, side impact and rear-end crashes, even in a vehicle with air bags.
Air bags mainly help in a head-on crash. In a rollover the belt is what keeps you in your seat.
Seat belts remain the best protection in rollover, side impact and rear-end crashes.
On the test
How much space should be between your breastbone and the steering wheel?
At least 10 inches. An air bag inflates with great force, and the space lets it fill before it reaches you. What Every Driver Must Know, p.26: “It is recommended that drivers sit with at least 10 inches of space between the center of their breastbone and the center of the steering wheel.”
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
- One payment, once — not a subscription. Nothing renews and there is nothing to cancel, for an exam you sit one time.
- Free to start: a 10-question test and the first section of cards. No sign-up and no account.
- Paying opens the rest of the cards, unlimited full-length practice tests, and retests built from exactly the questions you got wrong.
- Every level up to Prepared — 3 tests passed in a row.
- Do the work, fail the real exam, and we refund you.
Where these come from
Every rule here is checked against What Every Driver Must Know, published by the Michigan Department of State, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-10-03.
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/MI.pdf (What Every Driver Must Know, October 2025, Michigan Department of State, retrieved 2026-09-14; sha256 pinned in SOURCES.json)
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/MI.pages.txt (the plain pdftotext fixture every citation here was cut from and verified against; sha256 pinned in SOURCES.json)
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/MI-exam.html (Michigan Department of State, New drivers (18 and older), retrieved 2026-10-03; sha256 pinned in SOURCES.json under examSource; states the test's two portions and no figure)
- https://www.michigan.gov/sos/license-id/new-drivers-18-older
- https://www.michigan.gov/sos/resources/forms/what-every-driver-must-know
- https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-257-309 (read 2026-10-03; requires a knowledge test and a road sign test, states no count or mark)