When you are studying for the car theory test you will need to study and practice 14 car theory test subjects. These subjects range from your attitude towards road users around you to the rules regarding the motorway.

Here we cover the third subject (in alphabetic order)

Safety and your Vehicle – conjuring up 78 car theory test questions, safety and your vehicle is about understanding your vehicle, what’s safe to do on the road and what’s not as well planning in difficult situations. Some typical car theory test questions that you will find in the subject safety and your vehicle are as follows:

Why have ‘red routes’ been introduced in major cities?

  • To raise the speed limits
  • To help the traffic flow
  • To provide better parking
  • To allow lorries to load more freely

Let us start by clarifying what ‘red routes’ are. Red routes are traditionally double red lines painted at the edge of the road and beside the kerb. They are there in order to prevent people from randomly parking their vehicle thus allowing buses and other vehicles to continue on with their journey without as many unnecessary ‘hold ups.’ Here the suitable answer to the car theory test question ‘why have ‘red routes’ been introduced in major cities?’ is ‘to help the traffic flow.’ Red routes are largely found in big cities or towns that have major traffic passing through them. Central London for example has hundreds of red routes planted almost everywhere to prevent traffic from building up on the main roads.

Another common car theory test question that is found under the topic safety and your vehicle is listed below:

When will your vehicle use more fuel?

  • When its tyres are under-inflated
  • When its tyres are of different makes
  • When its tyres are over-inflated
  • When its tyres are new

This car theory test question is designed to see if you understand your car and what measures you can take in order to be more fuel efficient which will inevitably save you money on petrol and be better for the environment too. It is important to the DVSA to ensure that learner drivers understand the damage to the environment using more fuel than necessary can actually do and also important that learner drivers understand what they can do to avoid wasting excess fuel. When the tyres of a vehicle are over-inflated, this can make the steering feel light but with the risk that the tyres can explode. New tyres or tyres of different makes do not use more fuel so the only relevant answer to the car theory test question above is ‘When its tyres are under-inflated.’ When tyres are under-inflated on a bicycle for instance, the pedaller can usually feel the difference as they will need to pedal a lot harder to make the bicycle go its normal speed hence the pedaller will burn more energy. The same theory is with a car. If the tyres on a car are under-inflated, then the driver will have to accelerate more than normal in order to get the car moving at the required speed thus burning more fuel than necessary.