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Québec Class 6 Motorcycle overview

Québec Class 6 Motorcycle: Vision, visual checks, speed and safety margins

Field of vision and speed, scanning ahead, mirrors and blind spots, adapting speed, stopping distance, and front, rear and side safety margins.

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Vision, visual checks, speed and safety margins · Question 1Score 0/0

Compared with how they look, objects in your motorcycle mirrors are actually...

Study reference: Operating a Motorcycle (SAAQ, 4th ed., 2025), Ch. 2 Handling a Motorcycle on the Road — Visual checks, Adapting your speed, Safety margins, pp. 89–98

All 15 questions in this test

Every question and its answer choices. The correct answers and explanations appear when you take the test above.

  1. Compared with how they look, objects in your motorcycle mirrors are actually...

    1. Only in the next lane
    2. Closer and larger
    3. Exactly the same
    4. Farther and smaller

  2. With reduced traction or visibility, how should you change your front margin?

    1. Keep it at exactly two seconds, as in good weather
    2. Remove it to stay with traffic
    3. Increase it to three or four seconds or more
    4. Reduce it to one second to keep up with traffic

  3. Is it acceptable to ride well below a posted minimum speed?

    1. No; minimum limits must also be obeyed
    2. Yes, on any highway
    3. Yes, if you stay on the shoulder
    4. Only for motorcycles of 400 cc or less

  4. How do you check a blind spot?

    1. Look in the left mirror twice, slowly and carefully
    2. Turn your head quickly and glance over your shoulder
    3. Tilt your mirrors while you ride
    4. Slow down and listen carefully for nearby engines

  5. When you are stationary, about how wide is your field of vision?

    1. Slightly more than 150 degrees
    2. About 270 degrees
    3. About 90 degrees on each side
    4. About 45 degrees straight ahead

  6. Does ABS always shorten braking distance?

    1. Yes, by about half
    2. Yes, but only on wet roads
    3. Yes, on every surface
    4. No, not necessarily

  7. Why turn your head slightly from side to side when scanning ahead?

    1. To clear fog from the inside of your visor
    2. To keep your neck muscles warm on cold rides
    3. To make up for the field of vision your helmet blocks
    4. To signal a lane change to drivers behind you

  8. How much side space should you generally keep on each side of the motorcycle?

    1. About 30 centimetres
    2. About three metres
    3. About one metre
    4. Half a lane

  9. How should your mirrors be adjusted?

    1. Outward, showing half the lane behind and the sides
    2. Upward, showing the sky behind you
    3. Inward, showing your own shoulders and elbows
    4. Downward, showing the road right behind you

  10. What three parts make up stopping distance?

    1. Signal time, mirror time and braking time
    2. Speed, gear choice and tire size
    3. Throttle time, clutch time and stopping time
    4. Perception time, reaction time and braking distance

  11. Why does your field of vision narrow as you go faster?

    1. Your mirrors vibrate more at speed
    2. Your helmet moves forward on your head at speed
    3. Wind pressure pushes against your eyes and visor
    4. The brain can process only so much information

  12. A car is following you too closely. What does the guide recommend?

    1. Move onto the shoulder at once and stop
    2. Brake sharply to warn the driver to back off
    3. Speed up to get away from it as quickly as possible
    4. Don't speed up; change lanes when it is safe

  13. Under Highway Safety Code s. 330, when must you reduce speed?

    1. When visibility is poor or the road is slippery
    2. Only in school zones during September
    3. Only when a police officer is present nearby
    4. Only after sunset on highways

  14. At 100 km/h, about how wide does your field of vision become?

    1. About 45 degrees
    2. About 75 degrees
    3. About 150 degrees
    4. About 100 degrees

  15. What is the minimum front safety margin in normal conditions?

    1. Half a second
    2. Five seconds
    3. Two seconds
    4. One second

Vision, visual checks, speed and safety margins: key rules to remember

Our summary of what the official handbook says on this topic, in our own words. Read it before or after the practice questions above, then check the original chapter. Read the official chapter ↗

Signs, rules and vision, pp. 88–94

  • Traffic is denser and more varied (cyclists, in-line skaters, motorized mobility aids); cooperation and patience are essential.
  • You must know road signs and signals and obey the Highway Safety Code; long-time car drivers may need to refresh this knowledge (the Driver's Handbook explains it).
  • About 90% of driving information comes from your eyes; you need to see far, judge distances and tell colours apart.
  • Field of vision = central vision + peripheral vision; objects straight ahead are easier to see than those to the sides.
  • Stationary, your field of vision covers a little over 150 degrees; it narrows to about 100 degrees at 40 km/h, about 75 degrees at 70 km/h and about 45 degrees at 100 km/h.
  • At 100 km/h your field of vision is roughly halved because the brain can process only so much; you can miss a car leaving a driveway or a child at the roadside.
  • Visual checks ahead: look far ahead, sweep your eyes left and right regularly, and turn your head slightly to make up for the helmet's limits.
  • Adjust mirrors outward so you see half of the lane behind and as far along the sides as possible; objects in the mirrors are closer and larger than they look.
  • Check mirrors before every manoeuvre (stopping at an intersection, changing lanes, merging onto a highway).
  • Blind spots remain even with good mirrors; check them with a quick look over the shoulder before every manoeuvre.
  • A vehicle that disappears from your mirror may be in your blind spot.

Adapting your speed and stopping distance, pp. 94–96

  • A safe speed starts with obeying the speed limit, including minimum limits; riding too slowly can endanger others and hold up traffic.
  • Adapt speed to road layout, surface (gravel, slippery), traffic density and work zones, and to sun, rain, fog, wind and darkness.
  • Speed is one of the leading causes of crashes in Québec.
  • Highway Safety Code s. 330: drivers must slow down when visibility is poor (darkness, fog, rain or other precipitation) or the road is slippery or not completely cleared.
  • Stopping distance depends on speed, vehicle weight, tire condition, road conditions and braking efficiency.
  • Stopping distance = perception time + reaction time + braking distance.
  • Perception time is the time to analyse that there is a risk; reaction time is the time to respond; braking distance runs from brake application to a full stop.
  • ABS does not necessarily shorten braking distance.

Safety margins, pp. 96–98

  • Safety margins give you room to react and make you more visible.
  • Keep at least two seconds behind the vehicle ahead, counted from a fixed roadside object ("one thousand and one, one thousand and two"); more than two seconds is better.
  • With reduced visibility or traction or a damaged road, increase the margin to three or four seconds or more.
  • Aim for the same margin behind as in front; check mirrors to gauge it.
  • If someone follows too closely, don't speed up; change lanes as soon as you safely can.
  • Keep about one metre of space on each side; move within the lane if a heavy vehicle, car or cyclist is too close.

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