Blowouts and breakdowns — North Carolina Permit Test

Blowouts and breakdowns on the North Carolina permit test — 4 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

A blowout announces itself with a loud noise and a swerve; hold the steering wheel tightly, keep the vehicle straight, lift your foot from the accelerator, and do not brake until the engine has slowed the car enough to keep control.

Braking on a blown tire pulls the car hard to one side. Holding straight and coasting keeps it on the road.

Hold the steering wheel tightly and try to keep the vehicle straight on your side of the road;

North Carolina Driver Handbook, p.76

Before changing a flat tire, move the vehicle completely off the road, set the parking brake, use flares if you have them, turn on the flashers and parking lights, block the wheels, and have every passenger leave by the passenger side and wait off the road, never in front of or behind the car.

A car on a jack can be knocked off it by a passing truck’s wind. Nobody should be where it would fall or be pushed.

Move passengers off the road or shoulder — do not allow them to stand in front or to the rear of the vehicle.

North Carolina Driver Handbook, p.76

Do not attempt to make repairs on a vehicle while it is in an area exposed to other traffic; call a tow truck or mechanic for assistance.

A driver bent over an engine at the roadside is invisible to the traffic behind. The tow truck has lights and a crew for that.

Do not attempt to make repairs on a vehicle while it is in an area exposed to other traffic. Call a tow truck or mechanic for assistance.

North Carolina Driver Handbook, p.76

Always carry flashlights or flares for emergencies, and if it is dark when you break down, turn on the parking lights or emergency flashers.

A breakdown at night is invisible without light. Flares and a flashlight are how you are found instead of hit.

Always have flashlights or flares in your vehicle for emergencies.

North Carolina Driver Handbook, p.76

On the test

A tire blows out at highway speed. What should you do first?

Grip the wheel tightly and ease off the gas. Braking on a blown tire pulls the car hard to one side. Holding straight and coasting keeps it on the road. North Carolina Driver Handbook, p.76: “Hold the steering wheel tightly and try to keep the vehicle straight on your side of the road;”

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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Where these come from

Every rule here is checked against North Carolina Driver Handbook, published by the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-10-03.