Control and backing — Virginia Permit Test

Control and backing on the Virginia permit test — 5 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

Over-correcting is turning the wheel more sharply than the situation needs, which slides the rear wheels toward the outside of the turn and can cost you control of the car.

Most crashes of this kind involve one car and no other driver, which means the whole thing came from the wheel input.

If you drift off the road, do not panic. Ease off the speed, look where you want to go, and steer gently back onto the roadway.

Yanking the wheel back is what turns two wheels on the grass into a car crossing the center line.

The most common mistake in backing up is failing to look both ways behind. Turn your body and head to the right and look out through the rear window.

Mirrors show you a strip of the ground behind, and a small child standing anywhere else in it does not appear in any of them.

Back up slowly and check for people and traffic by glancing quickly to either side.

Backing slowly is what leaves you time to stop for something that walks into the space after you looked.

Sit straight but relaxed, with your hands at the 8 o’clock and 4 o’clock positions on the wheel. Hold it with your fingers and thumbs rather than gripping with your palms.

Hands low on the wheel keep your arms out of the way of the air bag, which comes out of the middle at great speed.

On the test

What happens to a car when a driver over-corrects?

The back wheels slide toward the outside. Most crashes of this kind involve one car and no other driver, which means the whole thing came from the wheel input.

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 Virginia Driver’s Manual, published by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-02.