Speed limits
The road is wet from rain. By how much does the handbook say you should cut your speed?
- By 5 to 10 mph. Correct answer
- By half.
- To no more than 5 mph.
Why
The handbook gives three surfaces three different adjustments, and telling them apart is the whole of this question. A wet road costs you 5 to 10 mph. Packed snow costs you half your speed. Ice takes you down to no more than 5 mph, which is barely moving. Wet is the mildest of the three, and it is also the most common. Two warnings from the same section are worth carrying with it: the pavement can be very slippery when it first starts to rain, especially after a dry, hot spell, and shaded stretches, bridges and overpasses freeze before the rest of the road. On top of the speed change, turn on your windshield wipers, low-beam headlights and defroster.
Where this comes from
California Driver's Handbook, June 2025 edition. The correct answer is By 5 to 10 mph.
The rule behind this one
California speed limits and the basic speed law goes through the whole topic, with the page of the California Driver's Handbook behind every rule.
More on speed limits
- You are driving on packed snow. What does the handbook tell you to do with your speed?
- Traffic is light and the weather is clear, but you are driving well under the speed limit and cars are stacking up behind you. What does the handbook say about that?
- You are on a California highway and there are no speed limit signs in sight. What is the maximum speed limit?
- Can a school zone have a speed limit lower than 25 mph?