Before starting engine — Rhode Island Permit Test

Before starting engine on the Rhode Island permit test — 2 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

Before getting into the car, Rhode Island tells you to check in front of and behind the vehicle for objects, animals or people in your path.

A child sitting behind the rear bumper cannot be seen from the driver's seat.

Before entering your vehicle, check in front and behind the vehicle for objects, animals, or persons in your path.

Rhode Island Driver’s Manual, p.26

Rhode Island's pre-driving steps (lock doors, adjust seat and mirrors, fasten belts and so on) are to be done every time you get in the vehicle.

The one short trip you skip the checks is the one where a mirror is pointed at the sky.

Safe driving starts before you turn on the engine. Please take the following steps every time you get in your vehicle:

Rhode Island Driver’s Manual, p.26

On the test

What should you do before you get into your vehicle?

Check in front and behind it for things in your path. A child sitting behind the rear bumper cannot be seen from the driver's seat. Rhode Island Driver’s Manual, p.26: “Before entering your vehicle, check in front and behind the vehicle for objects, animals, or persons in your path.”

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.

All Rhode Island permit topics

Where these come from

Every rule here is checked against Rhode Island Driver’s Manual, published by the Rhode Island Division of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-10-04.