Vehicle condition — New Jersey Permit Test
Vehicle condition on the New Jersey permit test — 6 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
New Jersey law forbids showing backup lights while a vehicle is moving forward.
Backup lights say the car is about to come at you. Showing them going forward tells the driver behind a lie.
It is against New Jersey law (N.J.S.A. 39:3-52) to have any backup lights on while a vehicle is moving forward.
A driver should be able to stop within 25 feet at 20 mph, which is the check for worn brakes.
It is a test a driver can run in an empty lot. Brakes fade slowly, so the change is hard to feel.
A motorist should be able to stop within 25 feet at 20 mph.
A vehicle should not be driven on tires with less than 1/16 inch of tread, about the edge of a penny.
Tread is what pushes water out from under the tire. Worn smooth, it floats instead of gripping.
A vehicle should not be driven with tires that have less than 1/16 inch of tread (about the edge of a penny).
New Jersey law prohibits add-on tinting on windshields and front side windows.
Tint hides the driver from the people around the car, and it hides the road from the driver at dusk.
New Jersey law prohibits add-on tinting on windshields and front side windows.
A driver whose turn signals stop working must use hand signals until they are repaired.
The car still has to say where it is going. An arm out the window does that when the bulbs will not.
A motorist should use hand signals until the turn signals are repaired.
The horn is for warning: when passing, when coming out of a blind alley, curve or driveway, or to warn of danger.
A horn used for temper teaches other drivers to ignore it, and then it is useless when it matters.
Use the horn to signal when passing, when coming out of a blind alley, curve, or driveway, or to warn another motorist of a potentially dangerous situation.
On the test
When may a New Jersey vehicle show its backup lights?
While it is moving in reverse. Backup lights say the car is about to come at you. Showing them going forward tells the driver behind a lie. New Jersey Driver Manual, p.45: “It is against New Jersey law (N.J.S.A. 39:3-52) to have any backup lights on while a vehicle is moving forward.”
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.