Driver's License Test Prep
Pennsylvania Practice Defensive Driving

A loaded truck at 65 mph on a clear, dry roadway needs at least how much distance to come to a complete stop?

  1. A.
    800 feet
  2. B.
    200 feet
  3. C.
    600 feet Correct
  4. D.
    400 feet
The Why

The answer is "600 feet"

The manual gives 600 feet as the minimum stopping distance for a loaded truck at 65 mph on a clear, dry roadway, compared with 400 feet for a passenger vehicle. Anyone landing on D is grabbing the passenger-vehicle number printed in the same sentence, assuming air brakes let a fully loaded truck stop in about a car's distance.

Why the others miss

The traps in the wrong answers

A. 800 feet

This overshoots the number the manual publishes for a loaded truck at 65 mph on a clear, dry roadway. This answer rounds the truck figure upward on the rule of thumb that a bigger vehicle must need dramatically more room than the manual actually publishes.

B. 200 feet

This is far short of the truck figure and even shorter than the passenger-vehicle number the manual cites for comparison. This answer applies a rough neighborhood-speed stopping distance for a passenger car to a loaded truck at highway speed.

D. 400 feet

400 feet is the passenger-car figure the manual cites for comparison, not the truck figure. This answer grabs the passenger-vehicle number printed in the same manual sentence, assuming air brakes let a loaded truck stop in about a car's distance.

The Rule

This question tests your knowledge of Defensive Driving in Pennsylvania. Source: Pennsylvania Driver Manual, "Sharing the Road with Trucks and Buses - Braking," p.58..

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