City driving — New Jersey Permit Test
City driving on the New Jersey permit test — 4 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
A driver should look at least 12 seconds ahead.
Twelve seconds is far enough to do something about what you find rather than just meet it.
A motorist should look at least 12 seconds ahead.
At 25 mph on a clear city road a driver should be able to see about a block ahead.
A block is what twelve seconds looks like in town. It is the practical version of the rule.
While driving at 25 mph on a clear road in a city, a motorist should be able to see about a block ahead.
Pedestrians and people in wheelchairs or mobility-assistance vehicles have the right of way in a crosswalk.
They are the ones with nothing around them, so the rule puts the burden on the car.
Pedestrians and individuals in wheelchairs or mobility-assistance vehicles always have the right of way in a crosswalk.
At a crosswalk a vehicle should be at its lowest speed.
Slowest is where a driver has the most time to see somebody step off the curb.
When at a crosswalk, a vehicle should be at its lowest speed.
On the test
How far ahead should a driver be looking?
At least 12 seconds ahead. Twelve seconds is far enough to do something about what you find rather than just meet it. New Jersey Driver Manual, p.101: “A motorist should look at least 12 seconds ahead.”
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 New Jersey Driver Manual, published by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-15.