Maine CDL — General Knowledge practice
Maine CDL — General Knowledge: Speed & Space Management practice test
Choosing a safe speed, keeping a space cushion, adjusting for weather and traffic, and understanding stopping distance.
Content reviewed against official driver handbooks · August 12, 2026
12 questions · pass with 10 correct. You get instant feedback and an explanation after every answer.
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12 sample Speed & Space Management questions with the correct answer, a short explanation, and the official handbook reference. Read through them, then take the quiz above.
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1. You are traveling 55 mph in ideal conditions when a stalled car appears 400 feet ahead in your lane. By the manual's figures, can you stop in time?
Correct answer: No; the minimum total stopping distance at 55 mph is 419 feet
Perception (142 feet), reaction (61 feet) and braking (216 feet) add up to at least 419 feet at 55 mph, which is more than the 400 feet available.
Source: Maine Commercial Driver License Manual — Section 2.6.1, Stopping Distance
2. Your brakes begin to fade on a long downgrade and you keep using them hard. What does the manual say can finally happen?
Correct answer: The fade can worsen until the vehicle cannot be slowed or stopped at all
Fade means pushing harder for the same braking. Continued hard use can take the brakes all the way to having no slowing power left.
Source: Maine Commercial Driver License Manual — Section 2.16, Mountain Driving
3. You are on an open highway at highway speed. Looking the recommended 12 to 15 seconds ahead means watching about how far down the road?
Correct answer: About a quarter of a mile
Twelve to fifteen seconds works out to about a block at lower speeds and about a quarter mile at highway speeds.
Source: Maine Commercial Driver License Manual — Section 2.4.1, Seeing Ahead
4. You are pulling out onto a slippery winter road. What does the manual advise as you first get moving?
Correct answer: Start gently and slowly, getting the feel of the road
On slippery surfaces you start out gently, take your time and learn how the road feels before settling into a speed.
Source: Maine Commercial Driver License Manual — Section 2.13.2, Driving
5. A CMV driver is clocked at 72 mph where the posted limit is 55 mph. For CDL purposes, how is that classified?
Correct answer: As excessive speeding, a serious traffic violation
Seventeen over the limit passes the 15 mph threshold for excessive speeding. Two serious violations in a CMV within three years cost the CDL for at least 60 days.
Source: Maine Commercial Driver License Manual — Section 1.3.3, Serious Traffic Violations
6. A bus driver is pulling up to a stop. What does the manual say to watch for there because of the clearance a bus needs?
Correct answer: Poles and tree limbs
Buses sometimes scrape mirrors or strike passing vehicles around stops, so drivers keep the bus's clearance in mind and look out for poles and tree limbs.
Source: Maine Commercial Driver License Manual — Section 4.3.3, Common Accidents
7. Why does the manual stress looking well ahead in a large vehicle?
Correct answer: Because it can take a long distance to stop or to change lanes
A big vehicle needs a long stretch of road to stop or to move over, so the driver has to see far enough ahead to make those moves safely.
Source: Maine Commercial Driver License Manual — Section 2.4.1, Seeing Ahead
8. The manual converts 55 mph into feet per second when it discusses dialing a phone. What figure does it give?
Correct answer: About 80.7 feet per second
At 55 mph a vehicle covers roughly 80.7 feet every second, which is how a 3.8-second glance at a phone becomes more than 300 feet of road.
Source: Maine Commercial Driver License Manual — Section 2.9.4, Cell/Mobile Phones
9. Which of these is NOT one of the manual's signs that a road may be slippery?
Correct answer: Fresh lane paint
The manual's clues are shaded areas, bridges, melting ice, black ice, ice forming on the vehicle and the first minutes of rain. Lane paint is not mentioned.
Source: Maine Commercial Driver License Manual — Section 2.6.2, Matching Speed to the Road Surface
10. Besides worsening hydroplaning, what does the inspection section say low tread depth does?
Correct answer: Reduces traction and increases stopping distance
Shallow tread makes hydroplaning more of a problem, cuts traction and lengthens the distance needed to stop, which is why tread is measured with a gauge.
Source: Maine Commercial Driver License Manual — Section 11.5.2, Axle Components/Steering Axle
11. By the totals in the manual's stopping distance figure, about how much farther does it take to stop from 55 mph than from 45 mph?
Correct answer: About 100 feet
The figure shows a total of 319 feet at 45 mph and 419 feet at 55 mph, a difference of 100 feet for ten more miles per hour.
Source: Maine Commercial Driver License Manual — Section 2.6.1, Stopping Distance
12. On a downgrade, why does the manual tell you to save your brakes by relying on engine braking?
Correct answer: So you will still be able to slow or stop as road and traffic conditions require
The engine's braking effect is the main speed control on a grade. Holding the service brakes in reserve keeps them available for when you really need to slow or stop.
Source: Maine Commercial Driver License Manual — Section 2.6.6, Speed on Downgrades
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