Incidents, accidents and emergencies theory test questions

56 questions in this topic

Procedure under pressure. Where to stop, what to switch on, who to call, and in what order. It includes first aid basics and what you must legally do if you are involved in an incident.

These questions have precise answers because the situations are ones where improvising goes badly. Learn the sequences rather than the gist.

Practise incidents, accidents and emergencies

Questions come from the DVSA revision question bank, used under licence. You will not see whether an answer is right until you have committed to one, which is the point. A sample of every topic is free and needs no account.

Start practising

The moments nobody plans for

Most people will drive for years without seeing anything worse than a scraped bumper. Then one day it is a car on its side across two lanes of a fast road, or a breakdown at night on a lane with no footway, and there is no time to look anything up. This topic exists so that when it happens, you already know what to do first.

If you are involved

Stopping is not optional. The law requires it whenever you are part of a crash that damages another vehicle or property, or hurts a person or certain animals. Anyone with a good reason to ask can then require your details: who you are, where you live, and who owns the car. If nobody is there to give them to, it falls to you to tell the police, promptly and never more than a day afterwards. Leaving without doing either is a separate offence, regardless of who was at fault.

If you come across one

The first job is not to become the second casualty. Park somewhere that will not cause another collision, put your hazard lights on, and think about traffic still approaching before you get out. Then ring 999 and be precise about where you are. On a motorway, the small numbered posts along the verge, or the blue driver location signs, pin it down to a short stretch of road.

Beyond that, the useful things are usually simple. Keep people calm, keep them out of the traffic, and do not move anyone who is hurt unless they are in immediate danger. A basic first aid course is worth the afternoon it takes, because the questions in this topic are much easier when you have practised the real thing.

Breakdowns and tunnels

Breakdowns are more common than crashes and catch out more drivers. Know how to switch on your hazard lights without looking, keep a charged phone and a high-visibility jacket in the car, and on a fast road get yourself and your passengers out on the side away from traffic and behind the barrier. Tunnels have their own rules, and the signs at the entrance explain what is expected of you if something goes wrong inside.

In the test

Order matters here. Many questions are about what you do first, so learn the sequence of actions rather than a loose list of good ideas.

How this topic appears in the real test

The car theory test is 50 multiple choice questions in 57 minutes, and you need 43 correct to pass. The questions are drawn from every topic, so you cannot skip one and hope. There is a hazard perception part as well, and you have to pass both on the same day.

These are revision questions rather than the questions you will be asked on the day.