Topic
Safety and your vehicle
Last reviewed against gov.uk on
Safety and your vehicle covers the daily and weekly checks that keep your car roadworthy — tyre tread and pressure, brakes, lights, washers, wipers — and the warning lights that tell you something needs attention before it becomes dangerous.
What’s tested
- Tyre tread depth (1.6 mm legal minimum across the central 3/4 of the breadth)
- Tyre pressure and what under- or over-inflation does to handling
- What to do when a brake warning light comes on
- Recognising the main dashboard warning lights
- Securing the vehicle when parked — locks, valuables, handbrake
Key Highway Code rules
Practise real DVSA revision questions
Work through 20 real DVSA car revision questions, each with the correct answer and a full explanation — then get the full bank for every topic in the app, free to get started.
Common mistakes
- Ignoring a faint or intermittent brake warning light
- Driving on tyres at the legal 1.6 mm tread — safer to replace at 3 mm
- Leaving valuables on view in a parked car
- Not checking tyre pressure before a long journey when fully loaded
Keep going
All 14 topics
- Alertness Staying focused: mirrors, observation, scanning the road, avoiding fatigue and distraction.
- Attitude Considerate driving: patience, following distance, behaviour at crossings and roundabouts.
- Safety margins Stopping distances, weather, road surface, and the space you need to react safely.
- Hazard awareness Anticipating risk: spotting clues, planning ahead, reading other road users’ behaviour.
- Vulnerable road users Pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, horse riders, children, older and disabled people.
- Other types of vehicle Sharing the road with lorries, buses, motorcycles, trams and emergency vehicles.
- Vehicle handling Driving in rain, fog, snow, dark and strong wind — how conditions change the car.
- Motorway rules Joining, lane discipline, speed, breakdowns and smart-motorway running lanes.
- Rules of the road Speed limits, junctions, roundabouts, parking, level crossings and one-way streets.
- Road and traffic signs The visual language of UK roads — shape, colour and meaning of every sign and signal.
- Documents Licence, insurance, MOT, V5C log book and SORN — the paperwork to be legally on the road.
- Incidents, accidents and emergencies First aid, CPR, AED, RTC procedure, breakdowns and tunnel safety.
- Vehicle loading Carrying passengers, luggage, roof loads and towing — and how each changes the car.