Mirrors and brakes — North Carolina Permit Test

Mirrors and brakes 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

Adjust the mirrors before you drive: the rear-view mirror should show what is directly behind you, and the side mirrors the scene to the left and right rear, barely reflecting the side of the vehicle.

A side mirror full of your own door shows you nothing new. Angled out, it covers the lane beside you.

Adjust the side mirrors to show the scene to the left and right rear of the vehicle. The mirrors should barely reflect the side of the vehicle.

North Carolina Driver Handbook, p.66

The brake pedal should stop at least one-third of its original distance from the floor when fully depressed; if it sinks slowly under your foot, the hydraulic system must be checked.

A pedal that keeps sinking is losing fluid somewhere. The next hard stop may be the one where it reaches the floor.

If the pedal gradually lowers under the pressure of your foot, the hydraulic system must be checked.

North Carolina Driver Handbook, p.66

Every motor vehicle on a public road must have brakes that adequately control, stop and hold it, with two separate means of applying them.

If the main brakes fail there has to be something else. The second system is the one you reach for that day.

All vehicles should have originally equipped brakes in good working condition — having two separate means of applying the brakes.

North Carolina Driver Handbook, p.66

With anti-lock brakes, brake hard and keep firm, steady pressure on the pedal; pumping the pedal or easing off reduces the effectiveness of the ABS.

ABS pumps the brakes for you, many times a second. Pumping them yourself undoes its work.

With ABS, it is important to brake hard and keep firm and steady pressure on the brake pedal while stopping. Pumping the brake pedal or releasing the steady pressure on the brake pedal will reduce the effectiveness of the ABS.

North Carolina Driver Handbook, p.66

On the test

How should the side mirrors be adjusted?

To show the left and right rear, barely showing the car’s side. A side mirror full of your own door shows you nothing new. Angled out, it covers the lane beside you. North Carolina Driver Handbook, p.66: “Adjust the side mirrors to show the scene to the left and right rear of the vehicle. The mirrors should barely reflect the side of the vehicle.”

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