Alertness Practice Questions
About This Topic
Alertness is about noticing what is happening around your vehicle early enough to act on it calmly. The questions cover observation at junctions, anticipating what other road users will do next, and the things that quietly erode concentration — tiredness, distractions inside the vehicle and using a mobile phone.
What the DVSA tests here
- When and how to use mirrors before signalling, changing speed or changing direction
- How tiredness, alcohol and distractions affect reaction time, and what to do about them
- Anticipating hazards early: junctions, dips in the road and vehicles emerging from side roads
Practising this topic
There are 26 questions on alertness in this practice bank, and every answer comes with an explanation so you can learn from your mistakes as you go. In the real car theory test the DVSA mixes all fourteen topics into one 50-question paper with a pass mark of 43, so no single subject can be skipped. A good rule of thumb is to keep practising a topic until you clear it comfortably several times in a row.
In the run-up to test day
Most learners find that little and often beats long cramming sessions: two or three short rounds of questions a day keep the rules fresh without wearing you out. Pair this topic with the matching chapters of the Highway Code, and use hazard perception clips to watch the same ideas play out on real roads. In the final week before your booking, switch from topic practice to full mock tests so you get used to the 57-minute time limit and to questions arriving in no particular order.