Defensive Driving Test question

SixPapaCharlie

SixPapaCharlie

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The whole point of defensive driving is to waste 6 hours of our time.


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You would start the car with the dead battery first.
They make those too easy.












:rofl::rofl:
 
Most people will start the car with the good battery first, but frankly there's no particular safety reason to do it that way. If the battery from the "donor" car isn't in good shape, it's marginal if having the engine running will help it much.

The important part is to make sure the connections on the dead car are made well away from the battery. These days you'll typically have jumping terminals separate from the battery.
 
When I take a defensive driving course (to get out of a ticket) I take a 6 pack of beer and an empty orange crush can. I keep the beer iced down in a cooler in my car.

I empty one can of beer into the orange crush can and drink it during the class. I refill at each break.

And be sure not to talk to anyone.

As for the question, its a trick question. The dead car is actually a bait car and you are being filmed.
 
Defensive driving is for weenies. Be a man on the road!
 
flyingron said:
Most people will start the car with the good battery first, but frankly there's no particular safety reason to do it that way. If the battery from the "donor" car isn't in good shape, it's marginal if having the engine running will help it much.

The important part is to make sure the connections on the dead car are made well away from the battery. These days you'll typically have jumping terminals separate from the battery.
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It's not an issue of safety, it's whether or not you can start either car with both loads connected. I normally start the donor vehicle first before making the connection to ensure the battery isn't drawn down enough that neither will start, should one or both vehicles be difficult to start. Obviously you will have to start the good car first unless you've already connected them.
 
By the way, my record for completing an online defensive driving test is 15 minutes.
 
It is a stupid question, but in 99.96 percent of real-life cases it would be the car with the dead battery because the car with the charged battery would already be running.

My last DD course was almost three years ago and was through the AARP. Talk about some dumb questions. I think the course was doubling as an Alzheimer's screening.

I'm thinking about taking this one this next time around. At least it may come with a few laughs to break up the boredom. It might be worth traveling to take the classroom version if the instructor is actually funny.

Rich
 
flyingron said:
Most people will start the car with the good battery first, but frankly there's no particular safety reason to do it that way. If the battery from the "donor" car isn't in good shape, it's marginal if having the engine running will help it much.
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After connecting I try starting the dead car first. If it doesn't crank, I know I have to start the donor car and hold the revs at 1500-1800 for 2-3 minutes and try again. I will repeat the 2-3 a second time if necessary, but if that doesn't do it, I'm done.

Oh, and I recently jump started a lady, and when she turned on the ignition key the auto headlamps, radio, blower (on high setting) etc. were all on. I told her she might want to turn all that crap off when trying to start car and she says "Oh, will that help???" :mad2:
 
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"Whoever said there is no such thing as a stupid question never taught a middle school history class."

A middle school history teacher.
 
Just remember that if you are taking a defensive driving course, it may well be something that you have to disclose on your next medical. Pay attention to the details so that you don't overlook and fail to disclose something that is required to be disclosed and thereby create a revocable situation out of one that would otherwise have been no big deal.
 
Bill Jennings said:
After connecting I try starting the dead car first. If it doesn't crank, I know I have to start the donor car and hold the revs at 1500-1800 for 2-3 minutes and try again. I will repeat the 2-3 a second time if necessary, but if that doesn't do it, I'm done.

Oh, and I recently jump started a lady, and when she turned on the ignition key the auto headlamps, radio, blower (on high setting) etc. were all on. I told her she might want to turn all that crap off when trying to start car and she says "Oh, will that help???" :mad2:
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The problem with starting after connecting is that there is a big drain on the donor battery already - most of it is the charging load of the dead battery.
 
PPC1052 said:
Just remember that if you are taking a defensive driving course, it may well be something that you have to disclose on your next medical. Pay attention to the details so that you don't overlook and fail to disclose something that is required to be disclosed and thereby create a revocable situation out of one that would otherwise have been no big deal.
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Normally if it's more than a moving infraction, i.e. misdemeanor reckless or DUI, you aren't going to be able to work it off with a DD course anyway.
 
PPC1052 said:
Just remember that if you are taking a defensive driving course, it may well be something that you have to disclose on your next medical. Pay attention to the details so that you don't overlook and fail to disclose something that is required to be disclosed and thereby create a revocable situation out of one that would otherwise have been no big deal.
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I don't think that applies if you have no traffic violations or points to work off. A lot of people with clean driving records still take the courses for the insurance discounts. They can be substantial in high-insurance states. I haven't had any points on my license in probably more than 30 years, but I still take the DD course every three years for the discounts.

Rich
 
Zeldman said:
When I take a defensive driving course (to get out of a ticket) I take a 6 pack of beer and an empty orange crush can. I keep the beer iced down in a cooler in my car.

I empty one can of beer into the orange crush can and drink it during the class. I refill at each break.

And be sure not to talk to anyone.

As for the question, its a trick question. The dead car is actually a bait car and you are being filmed.
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There's a Quiznos in the WalMart here. A guy walked into it last weekend and asked for an empty cup. He then took a beer out of his backpack and filled the cup up and went shopping! Brilliant! I never thought about doing that.
 
I would choose a fourth answer, which they forgot to include in your test:

* Call AAA and just relax and watch while the tow truck driver decides how to do it.
 
Why would this question be on a defensive driving test? :dunno:
 
EppyGA said:
Why would this question be on a defensive driving test? :dunno:
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I think a lot of these courses are partially funded by insurance companies who want to get some more general loss-prevention stuff in there that may not be strictly safety-related.

For example, I took one course that had a section discussing where to park to minimize the chances of your vehicle getting hit by cars or shopping carts in supermarket parking lots. Others have mentioned the importance of stowing valuables out of sight when the car is parked. Those sorts of things.

The most interesting DD course I ever took was conducted by an engineer who spent all six hours talking about the math and physics of driving. He lost most of the class after 20 minutes as far as the math went, but he was animated enough (and pretty funny, as engineers go) to make it fascinating anyway. He didn't mention a single topic in the syllabus, but no one complained. I mean, seriously, how many times can you talk about the Three-Second Following Rule before it starts getting really old?

Rich
 
Bill Jennings said:
Oh, and I recently jump started a lady, and when she turned on the ignition key the auto headlamps, radio, blower (on high setting) etc. were all on. I told her she might want to turn all that crap off when trying to start car and she says "Oh, will that help???" :mad2:
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Quite a woman to have all those accessories.
 
it's been probably 25 years ago since I took a defensive driving course that the chief pilot told us we had to take. They started talking about where the blast blankets are in the vehicle and which windows are bulletproof to what rating, we looked at each other and said crap, we hired on here to drive airplanes, we don't need to drive cars too. We'll just live at the airport.
 
I can tell you if I paid for a defensive DRIVING course, I'd be really ****ed if they spent a lot of time on defensive car starting.
 
The best defense is a good offense. So I will just focus on my offensive driving.
 
It really is nothing more then getting grounded. In Texas, the courses are all required to be 6 hours min. You can take them at Sears (which is odd now that I think about it), Comedy clubs, and online. You are allowed 1 DD class per year and one ticket can be deferred so for this reason, I generally maintain a twice a year speeding ticket quota.

But the dd tests are 10 questions that a child could answer.

It is more about you sitting in a chair for 6 hours than anything else.
 
In California, you can take one DD course within an 18 month period. That is the state standard.

BUT....

They don't track these things state wide. They do it by county. At one time, I was working off three concurrent speeding tickets by taking on line DD courses which were issued in three different counties. Yes, I used the same online service for all three. Yes, they probably knew what was going on. Yes, they were perfectly happy to take my money. Yes, all points were dropped. And the courses are timed, but the timeout period is a minute or two, not 45 minutes.
 
Sac Arrow said:
In California, you can take one DD course within an 18 month period. That is the state standard.

BUT....

They don't track these things state wide. They do it by county. At one time, I was working off three concurrent speeding tickets by taking on line DD courses which were issued in three different counties. Yes, I used the same online service for all three. Yes, they probably knew what was going on. Yes, they were perfectly happy to take my money. Yes, all points were dropped. And the courses are timed, but the timeout period is a minute or two, not 45 minutes.
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It is the same here.
I even had one caounty tell me "If it was in a diff county, goahead and take the course because we don't track it outside the counties"
 
In fact, I don't think the Counties care if you take the courses more often than the allotted time in the same county. Think about it. Less points + more opportunity for additional ticket = mo revenue money
 
Sac Arrow said:
In fact, I don't think the Counties care if you take the courses more often than the allotted time in the same county. Think about it. Less points + more opportunity for additional ticket = mo revenue money
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I wouldn't be surprised if they also get a kickback on the courses.

Rich
 
Blonde answer "Well duh! The car with the good battery! The other battery is already dead!"
 
I have never been pulled over in WI in the 7 years I've been here. However, in IL they have a very IL way of handling things. If you get a ticket, you can ask for "court supervision". Basically you pay the ticket, pay an extra "fee", and it doesn't go on your driving record if you don't get another ticket for a while(I think a year).

The government literally takes a bribe to not put things on your record. Oh sorry "court fee".
 
cowman said:
I have never been pulled over in WI in the 7 years I've been here. However, in IL they have a very IL way of handling things. If you get a ticket, you can ask for "court supervision". Basically you pay the ticket, pay an extra "fee", and it doesn't go on your driving record if you don't get another ticket for a while(I think a year).

The government literally takes a bribe to not put things on your record. Oh sorry "court fee".
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We call that deferred adjudication
90 days w/ no ticket and you get it dismissed and it does not go on your record
 
Of course, this is all for safety... not for fundraising.
 
cowman said:
I have never been pulled over in WI in the 7 years I've been here. However, in IL they have a very IL way of handling things. If you get a ticket, you can ask for "court supervision". Basically you pay the ticket, pay an extra "fee", and it doesn't go on your driving record if you don't get another ticket for a while(I think a year).

The government literally takes a bribe to not put things on your record. Oh sorry "court fee".
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Similar deal available in NJ... similar in that you can pay an exorbitant $250 bribe, uhhh, surcharge, yeah, surcharge... and any 2-pt. violation (most basic and venial moving violations) is plead to a zero-point violation.
 
It said "jumping a dead battery". It does not say the battery is in a vehicle.
 
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