Driving emergencies — Pennsylvania Permit Test
Driving emergencies on the Pennsylvania permit test — 6 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
If your accelerator sticks, shift to neutral immediately and use the brakes; this races the engine but takes the power away from the wheels.
Neutral cuts the link between the engine and the road, which is the fastest fix available.
Shift to neutral immediately and use the brakes, if the pedal remains stuck.
If you must switch off the ignition to slow or stop, turn it to off rather than lock, because locking it takes away your steering.
A car you cannot steer is worse than a car you cannot slow.
If you need to slow or stop quickly, turn your ignition to “OFF.” Do not turn it to “LOCK” because you will lose steering ability.
If your wheels drift onto a low shoulder, do not steer sharply and do not brake suddenly: ease off the gas, keep a firm grip and steer parallel to the road until you have slowed.
A sharp turn back onto the road whips the car across into oncoming traffic.
The most important things to remember are: do not steer sharply, and do not brake suddenly.
After drifting onto the shoulder, slow gradually to under 25 miles an hour and preferably nearer 10 before you steer gently back onto the road.
At speed the lip at the edge of the pavement will throw the car sideways.
Continue to slow gradually until you are traveling very slowly - less than 25 mph and preferably closer to 10 mph
If another vehicle is coming head-on in your lane, sound your horn, and if the driver does not move over, escape to the right rather than the left.
If you go left and they correct at the last instant, you meet in the middle anyway.
If the other driver does not move over, try to escape to the right, if possible. If you swerve left and the other driver corrects at the last instant, you will still crash.
If your vehicle breaks down, pull off the road, put on your hazard flashers, get as far off the road as possible, park where you can be seen, and lift the hood.
The raised hood is a signal every driver reads without being told.
Lift your hood to let other drivers know your vehicle is disabled.
On the test
What should you do if the accelerator sticks?
Shift to neutral and use the brakes. Neutral cuts the link between the engine and the road, which is the fastest fix available. PA Driver's Manual, p.62: “Shift to neutral immediately and use the brakes, if the pedal remains stuck.”
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 PA Driver's Manual, published by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-06.