Driving test guides
Short, clear guides to what the knowledge tests cover, written for learners in every state. Read one, then practice the same topic with your state's questions.
Read a guide
Rules of the road
How traffic works, explained with everyday situations.
- Right-of-way: who goes firstFour-way stops, left turns, roundabouts and people on foot, with seven everyday situations.
- Traffic signals and pavement markingsYellow lights, flashing reds, dark signals and the painted lines that say when you may pass.
- Road signs and their meaningsEvery shape and color, and the six groups of signs the tests use.
Driving safely
Other road users, poor conditions and the choices that keep a driver sharp.
- Sharing the roadCyclists, big trucks, motorcycles, school buses and slow farm vehicles, in six drawn situations.
- Driving at night and in bad weatherHigh beams, glare, fog, heavy rain, skids and icy bridges, in six drawn situations.
- Alcohol, drugs and phonesWhat alcohol, drugs, tiredness and phones do to a driver, and the myths the test catches.
Moving and visiting
Switching a license after a move, or driving here on one from abroad.
Commercial driving (CDL)
One guide per CDL knowledge test: the rules nearly every state’s manual prints, with the pages in yours.
- CDL General Knowledge Test guideMost states ask 50 questions and want 40 right; every state's pages.
- CDL Air Brakes Test guideMost states ask 25 questions and want 20 right; every state's pages.
- CDL Combination Vehicles Test guideMost states ask 20 questions and want 16 right; every state's pages.
- CDL Doubles and Triples Test guideMost states ask 20 questions and want 16 right; every state's pages.
- CDL Passenger Test guideMost states ask 20 questions and want 16 right; every state's pages.
- CDL School Bus Test guideMost states ask 20 questions and want 16 right; every state's pages.
- CDL Tanker Test guideMost states ask 20 questions and want 16 right; every state's pages.
- CDL Hazmat Test guideMost states ask 30 questions and want 24 right; every state's pages.
About the tests
How to prepare, and the score each knowledge test needs.
- How to study for the permit testHow memory works, a review schedule that makes rules last, and calm habits for test day.
- Permit test passing scoresThe mark to aim for in each state, and the number of misses allowed.
- Motorcycle test passing scoresThe rider test in every state, side by side.
- Federal CDL rulesClasses, endorsements, the medical card, hours and what costs a CDL.
Five ideas behind most test questions
The knowledge tests look different from state to state, but most of their questions come back to a handful of ideas. Learn these and many answers stop being something to memorize: you can work them out.
The law says who must wait, not who may go
Signs, signals and the order of arrival settle who waits at a corner. None of them lets a driver force the way through.
Where people slip: A driver ignoring the order is still in your path. When an answer choice is "keep going, it is legal", the safer choice usually wins.
Guide: Right-of-way, with seven situationsLet others see you and know your plan
Signal before you turn or change lanes, turn your lights on when the day gets dark or wet, and glance over your shoulder for the spot your mirrors miss.
Where people slip: A turn signal asks for space; it does not create it. You still wait for a safe gap before you move over.
Guide: Signals and the lines on the roadKeep room on every side
Room ahead gives you time to stop, room beside you gives you a way out. Leave more of it in rain, at night, on gravel, and behind motorcycles or large trucks.
Where people slip: Driving close behind someone feels faster but leaves no time to react. Questions about following almost always reward the bigger gap.
Guide: Room for trucks, bikes and busesFit your speed to the moment
A posted limit is the most you may drive when the road is clear and dry. Fog, ice, heavy traffic, a school zone or a work zone call for less than the sign.
Where people slip: When a question describes fog, snow or a crowded street, "the posted speed" is rarely the right choice.
Guide: Night and bad weatherPeople outside a vehicle get extra care
Walkers, children, people on bikes and road workers have no metal around them. Slow down near them, give them room, and expect the unexpected.
Where people slip: A car stopped in the lane beside you may be waiting for someone you cannot see. Never pass it until you know why it stopped.
Words the tests use
A question is easier when every word in it is clear. These terms turn up again and again in the handbooks and on the tests, explained here in plain language.
- Blind spot
- Any area around your vehicle that your mirrors do not show. Every vehicle has them, and the bigger the vehicle, the larger they are.
- Crosswalk
- The part of the road where people on foot cross. It can be painted, or simply the line of a sidewalk carried across a street.
- Defensive driving
- Driving as if others may make a mistake: watching well ahead, leaving room, and having a way out ready.
- Following distance
- The gap between you and the vehicle in front, often counted in seconds as it passes a fixed point.
- Hydroplaning
- A car skimming across standing water instead of gripping the pavement, which leaves the wheel and brakes nothing to work with.
- Intersection
- Any place where two or more roads meet or cross, from a busy junction with lights to a quiet corner with no sign at all.
- Median
- The strip that separates traffic going opposite ways on a divided road, made of grass, concrete or a barrier.
- Merge
- Joining a stream of traffic, as from an on-ramp. You match the speed of that traffic and fit into a gap.
- Right-of-way
- Which road user should go first when two of them want the same space, as the traffic laws set it out.
- Roundabout
- A circular intersection where all traffic moves counterclockwise around a raised center island.
- Shoulder
- The paved or gravel edge beside the travel lanes, kept for stopping in an emergency and not for passing.
- Space cushion
- The open area around your vehicle on all four sides, the driver's margin for error.
- Uncontrolled intersection
- A crossing with no signal and no sign telling anyone to stop or yield. Drivers slow down and work out who goes first by the rules.
- Work zone
- A stretch of road where crews are working, marked with orange signs, cones or barrels. Slow down and watch for people and equipment.
- Yield
- To slow down or stop so that someone else can go first, and to move on only when the way is clear.
Getting the most from a guide
- Read the idea first. Each guide opens with the rule in a few lines. Read it slowly and put it in your own words before going on.
- Picture each situation. Look at the drawing from the driver's seat and decide who goes first before you read the answer. Guessing first is what makes it stick.
- Practice the same day. Each guide links your state's matching practice topic, so the rule is tested while it is still fresh.
- Check your handbook. The guides explain what is common to every state. Your state's own handbook has the final word on its laws, numbers and fines.
For your state
Each of the 50 states also has pages of its own, written from its own handbook. They hold what a national guide can't: the number of questions, the score to pass, the papers to bring and the rules for new drivers.
- How to pass the permit testThe state's test format and a study plan built on its handbook chapters. See California's
- How to get your permitWhere to apply, what to bring, and the limits a learner's permit sets there. See California's
- Permit test questions and answersWhat learners in that state ask most, answered from its own sources. See California's