NJ · STUDY GUIDE
Rules of the Road
Right-of-way, speed limits, passing, turning, and safe-driving practice — a major area of the official manual. This guide has 166 questions, each citing the NJ manual section it comes from — the first 18 are free to read below.
1 · SEAT BELTS
New Jersey's seat belt law makes an unbuckled FRONT-seat occupant:
- ✓ A primary offense — police can stop the vehicle for that alone
- · A secondary offense only
- · Legal if over 18
- · A parking-level infraction
Driver, front-seat passengers, and everyone under 18 anywhere in the car fall under the primary law. Unbelted back-seat adults are a secondary offense.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 3 · Seat Belt Law, p. 402 · SEAT BELTS
Who is legally responsible for passengers under 18 wearing seat belts?
- ✓ The driver
- · Each passenger
- · The vehicle owner
- · The front-seat adult
The driver answers for all passengers under 18. Front-seat passengers 18+ are responsible for themselves.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 3 · Seat Belt Law, p. 403 · SEAT BELTS
Wearing a seat belt improves your chances of surviving a crash by about:
- ✓ 60 percent
- · 10 percent
- · 25 percent
- · 90 percent
60 percent — and three to four times better odds with both belt and shoulder strap. Hitting the dashboard at 30 mph is like falling from a three-story building.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 3 · Seat Belt Law, p. 404 · CHILD SAFETY
Children under age 2 who weigh less than 30 pounds must ride in:
- ✓ A rear-facing restraint with a five-point harness
- · A forward-facing booster
- · A regular seat belt
- · An adult's lap
Under 2 and under 30 lbs = rear-facing, five-point harness. An infant seat must NEVER face forward.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 3 · Child Passenger Safety Law, p. 425 · CHILD SAFETY
Children under 8 who are shorter than 57 inches must ride:
- ✓ In a forward-facing five-point restraint or booster seat, in a REAR seat
- · In the front with a belt
- · In any seat with a lap belt
- · However the parent decides
Under 8 and under 4'9": harnessed seat or booster, always in the rear (front allowed only if the vehicle has no rear seats). Fine: $50–$75.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 3 · Child Passenger Safety Law, p. 426 · CHILD SAFETY
A rear-facing child seat may NEVER be placed:
- ✓ In a front seat with an active passenger-side air bag
- · In the center rear seat
- · Behind the driver
- · In a pickup truck at all
The air bag must be disabled or off before a rear-facing seat can ride up front — and children 12 and under are safest belted in the back seat.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 3 · Air Bags, p. 447 · CHILD SAFETY
Air bags inflate at speeds of up to:
- ✓ 200 mph
- · 30 mph
- · 65 mph
- · 500 mph
Up to 200 mph — supplemental protection for belted adults, but capable of seriously injuring children riding up front. Keep 10 inches between the wheel's center and your breastbone.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 3 · Air Bags, p. 438 · VEHICLE EQUIPMENT
Having backup lights on while the vehicle moves FORWARD is:
- ✓ Against New Jersey law
- · Recommended in fog
- · Required at night
- · A courtesy to others
Backup lights signal reverse; showing them while moving forward is illegal (N.J.S.A. 39:3-52).
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 3 · Car Condition, p. 459 · BRAKING
A properly working vehicle should stop within ___ at 20 mph:
- ✓ 25 feet
- · 10 feet
- · 60 feet
- · 100 feet
25 feet at 20 mph is the manual's brake check — try it in an empty lot with chalk marks. Squealing, grinding, or pulling to one side means the brakes need service.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 3 · Car Condition, p. 4510 · BRAKING
With anti-lock brakes (ABS), you should:
- ✓ Apply steady pressure — never pump the brakes or jerk the wheel
- · Pump rapidly like conventional brakes
- · Brake only with the parking brake
- · Pump gently after every stop
Steady pressure for ABS; pumping is for conventional brakes after driving through water. Violently jerking wheel and brakes can lose control at just 35 mph — and on gravel or unpacked snow ABS may even lengthen stopping distance.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 3 · Car Condition, p. 4511 · VEHICLE EQUIPMENT
Tires should never be driven with tread below:
- ✓ 1/16 inch — about the edge of a penny
- · 1/2 inch
- · 1/4 inch
- · Any visible tread is fine
1/16 inch minimum. Tires must also match — don't mix radials with other types.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 3 · Car Condition, p. 4612 · WINTER DRIVING
Driving without clearing snow and ice off your vehicle brings a fine of:
- ✓ $25 to $75 — even if nothing dislodges
- · Nothing unless snow falls off
- · $500 flat
- · Only a warning
The fine applies regardless of whether anything flies off. If dislodged ice causes injury or damage: $200–$1,000 for private vehicles, $500–$1,500 for commercial.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 3 · Snow and Ice, p. 4713 · SAFE DRIVING
Carbon monoxide is dangerous in a vehicle because it is:
- ✓ Odorless and colorless — it can kill before symptoms are noticed
- · Bright blue and easy to spot
- · Only produced by old cars
- · Harmless in small garages
Watch for the conditions: exhaust leaks, idling in a garage (even with the door open), an open trunk or tailgate, or a tailpipe blocked by snow or debris.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 3 · Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, p. 4714 · MISCELLANEOUS LAWS
New Jersey law limits vehicle idling to:
- ✓ Three minutes
- · Ten minutes
- · One minute
- · There's no limit
Three minutes or less, with exceptions like sitting in traffic or drive-thrus. Violations run $250–$1,000.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 3 · Idling Your Vehicle, p. 5015 · SAFE DRIVING
The manual's tip for adjusting the outside mirror is to:
- ✓ See the tip of the driver-side door handle in the mirror's lower right
- · Center your own reflection
- · Point it at the rear bumper
- · Aim it at the sky to cut glare
That framing reveals the lanes to your left and rear. Check the mirrors by letting a car pass on your left: as it leaves the inside mirror, its front bumper should appear in the outside one.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 3 · Starting a Parked Car, p. 5016 · SAFE DRIVING
For normal driving, grip the steering wheel at:
- ✓ 9 and 3 o'clock, on the outside rim, thumbs along the wheel face
- · 10 and 2, inside the rim
- · 12 o'clock with one hand
- · 6 o'clock with both hands
9 and 3 reduces hand and arm injuries if the air bag deploys. Never grip from the inside of the rim, and keep both hands on except when shifting or hand-signaling.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 3 · Steering, p. 5117 · BRAKING
At 60 mph, a vehicle travels ___ per second, and total stopping distance is about:
- ✓ 88 feet per second; 343 feet
- · 60 feet per second; 100 feet
- · 30 feet per second; 200 feet
- · 100 feet per second; 500 feet
88 ft/sec at 60 mph, with ~¾-second reaction time; the table totals 343 feet. At 20 mph it's 53 feet; at 50 mph, 247.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 3 · Stopping Distances, p. 5318 · LANES AND TURNS
You must signal at least ___ before turning:
- ✓ 100 feet
- · 50 feet
- · 200 feet
- · 25 feet
100 feet minimum, and cancel it afterward — a stuck signal misleads other drivers.
📖 NJ Manual · Ch. 3 · Driving Signals, p. 54Tip: use your ← and → arrow keys
FullPass is an independent study aid. Questions are reviewed against the cited official NJ driver's manual; the state licensing agency remains the final authority.