Your bus was left unattended between trips. What should you do before boarding passengers?
Correct answer: Check the interior again for damage and unsafe conditions
An unattended bus may have been damaged. Check the passenger area before using it, including rails, seats, floor covering and exits.
Source: Washington Commercial Driver Guide, N/10/20; section 4.1.3, physical PDF 75, printed 4-1. ↗
A rider places a carry-on bag in the aisle beside an empty seat. What should you require?
Correct answer: Move and secure the bag where it will not block the aisle
An aisle must remain clear of baggage that could trip people or obstruct their movement.
Source: Washington Commercial Driver Guide, N/10/20; section 4.2, physical PDF 75, printed 4-1. ↗
During the interior check, a handrail pulls loose from its attachment. What is the correct assessment?
Correct answer: It is a safety defect, even if the bus brakes work properly
Handholds and railings must be in safe working condition. Other working systems do not make an insecure handrail safe.
Source: Washington Commercial Driver Guide, N/10/20; section 4.1.3, physical PDF 75, printed 4-1. ↗
An emergency exit window has been left open on a bus ready to depart. What should happen?
Correct answer: Close it and ensure the emergency exit is in safe operating condition
Do not drive with an open emergency exit door or window. This is distinct from a roof hatch designed to lock partly open.
Source: Washington Commercial Driver Guide, N/10/20; section 4.1.3, physical PDF 75, printed 4-1. ↗
A roof hatch is designed to lock partly open for ventilation. What additional clearance issue must the driver consider?
Correct answer: The partly open hatch increases the bus's effective height
Some hatches permit a secured partly open position, but that raises the vehicle's clearance requirement. Do not make leaving them open a routine practice.
Source: Washington Commercial Driver Guide, N/10/20; section 4.1.4, physical PDF 75, printed 4-1. ↗
A large parcel fits beside the driver's seat but restricts access to the controls. May it remain there?
Correct answer: No; cargo must allow the driver to move freely and operate the bus
Baggage must not restrict the driver's movement or control of the vehicle. Cargo safety includes where it is secured, not only its contents.
Source: Washington Commercial Driver Guide, N/10/20; section 4.2, physical PDF 75, printed 4-1. ↗
At an intermediate destination stop, which information helps riders get off and return correctly?
Correct answer: The location, reason for stopping, next departure time and bus number
These announcements help riders understand the stop and identify the correct bus and departure.
Source: Washington Commercial Driver Guide, N/10/20; section 4.2.4, physical PDF 76, printed 4-2. ↗
Why does the guide advise charter drivers not to let riders board before departure time?
Correct answer: To reduce opportunities for theft or vandalism while the bus waits
Controlling early access helps protect the bus. It does not replace the inspection before departure.
Source: Washington Commercial Driver Guide, N/10/20; section 4.2.4, physical PDF 76, printed 4-2. ↗
How should you monitor passengers while driving a bus?
Correct answer: Include brief interior checks while continuing to scan the road and mirrors
Passenger supervision is part of observation, but must not take away the driver's attention to the road around the bus.
Source: Washington Commercial Driver Guide, N/10/20; section 4.3.1, physical PDF 76, printed 4-2. ↗
Why are smooth starts and stops especially important in passenger service?
Correct answer: They help prevent riders from falling or being injured
Riders may be standing or moving within the allowed passenger area. Smooth control reduces sudden forces on them.
Source: Washington Commercial Driver Guide, N/10/20; section 4.3.2, physical PDF 77, printed 4-3. ↗
You signal to leave a bus stop, but the approaching traffic leaves no safe gap. What should you do?
Correct answer: Wait for enough room to accelerate and merge safely
A signal communicates your intention; it does not prove another driver will make room. Account for the bus's acceleration and clearance.
Source: Washington Commercial Driver Guide, N/10/20; section 4.3.3, physical PDF 77, printed 4-3. ↗
A curve's posted speed may be suitable for cars in good weather. What should a bus driver remember?
Correct answer: It may still be too fast for that bus and the current conditions
A bus may need a lower speed. Good traction does not prevent rollover, and poor traction can cause a slide.
Source: Washington Commercial Driver Guide, N/10/20; section 4.3.4, physical PDF 77, printed 4-3. ↗
After the required stop, how must a covered bus with a manual transmission cross railroad tracks in Washington?
Correct answer: In a gear that permits crossing without a gear change on the tracks
Select a suitable gear before crossing. The rule prohibits shifting while crossing the track or tracks.
Source: RCW 46.61.350(2); current text reviewed September 13, 2026. ↗
A Washington railroad crossing has a marked stop line. Your passenger-carrying commercial bus must stop and no exemption applies. Which instruction governs the stopping position?
Correct answer: Stop before the marked stop line
The Washington rule expressly uses the stop line when one is present. The 15-to-50-foot wording applies otherwise.
Source: RCW 46.61.350(1)(a); current text reviewed September 13, 2026. ↗
At a drawbridge controlled by a traffic light showing green, what should the bus driver still do?
Correct answer: Slow down and make sure it is safe to cross
The guide's exception to the drawbridge stop does not remove the need to slow and verify a safe crossing.
Source: Washington Commercial Driver Guide, N/10/20; section 4.3.6, physical PDF 77, printed 4-3. ↗
A transit bus's open rear door activates its brake-door interlock. May you use that system instead of the parking brake?
Correct answer: No; the interlock is not a substitute for the parking brake
Closing the rear door releases the described interlock. Use the proper parking brake to secure the bus.
Source: Washington Commercial Driver Guide, N/10/20; section 4.6, physical PDF 78, printed 4-4. ↗
A disabled bus has riders aboard, and unloading where it stopped would be unsafe. What limit applies to towing or pushing it with riders still aboard?
Correct answer: Move only to the nearest safe place to discharge the riders
The exception protects passengers from unsafe unloading, not from inconvenience. Follow the employer's recovery procedures and unload at the nearest safe spot.
Source: Washington Commercial Driver Guide, N/10/20; section 4.5, physical PDF 77, printed 4-3. ↗
Under the current federal DVIR rule alone, a covered bus driver discovers no defect and receives no defect report. Is a no-defect report required?
Correct answer: No; that federal provision does not require a report when no defect is found or reported
The current rule no longer requires a no-defect DVIR in this situation. That does not eliminate inspections, carrier policies or separate applicable requirements.
Source: 49 CFR 396.11(a)(2)(i); current text reviewed September 13, 2026. ↗
May a bus subject to the federal tire rule operate with a retreaded tire on a front wheel?
Correct answer: No; retreaded, recapped and regrooved front tires are prohibited on buses
Adequate tread depth does not override the separate prohibition on these tire types on bus front wheels.
Source: 49 CFR 393.75(d); current text reviewed September 13, 2026. ↗
A rider offers a package that may contain a hazardous substance, but there is no visible hazard label. What should guide your decision to accept it?
Correct answer: Verify that the material is permitted; no label is not proof that it is safe cargo
Passengers can carry unlabeled hazardous materials. Do not accept hazardous cargo unless you are sure the applicable rules permit it; different substances and exceptions need separate checks.
Source: Washington Commercial Driver Guide, N/10/20; section 4.2.1–4.2.2, physical PDF 76, printed 4-2. ↗
