Vehicle checks — Pennsylvania Permit Test
Vehicle checks on the Pennsylvania permit test — 7 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
Check tire pressure cold, before you have driven or at least three hours after driving, using the pressure listed in the owner's manual or on the driver's side door jamb.
Driving warms the air inside and gives you a reading that is not true.
Check your tires for wear once a month, or before a long road trip, using the penny test: put Lincoln's head into the shallowest groove, and if any part of it is covered you have a safe amount of tread left.
A month is short enough that tread never gets far past the line before you look at it.
In a crash, loose items in the vehicle become projectiles traveling at the speed the vehicle was moving, so put heavy objects in the trunk or secure them with belts.
A backpack on the back seat arrives at the front seat at whatever speed you were doing.
Never store items on the rear window deck.
Anything there arrives at the back of your head in a crash.
Do not wear sunglasses or tinted contact lenses at night, and always wear your prescription lenses when you drive if you normally need them.
Anything that dims your view at night takes away the little you had.
Locking your doors and wearing your seat belt help keep you from being thrown from the vehicle in a crash.
A door that opens in a crash takes away the one thing keeping you inside the car.
Keep a constant supply of fresh air in the vehicle: it helps you stay alert and guards against carbon monoxide poisoning from exhaust gas.
Carbon monoxide has no smell, so nothing warns you it is there.
On the test
When should you check tire pressure?
Cold, before driving or three hours after. Driving warms the air inside and gives you a reading that is not true.
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.
All Pennsylvania permit topics
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.