California Permit Practice Test 1
This free California practice test has 30 multiple-choice questions covering road signs, right-of-way, speed limits, and safe driving — the same topics the DMV tests. You need 80% correct to pass the real DMV knowledge test.
Tap an answer. The explanation opens so you can learn it, then go on. Keyboard: A–D or 1–4 to answer, then Enter or Space.
Question 1 of 30
1. An 18-year-old in California has one beer at a graduation party and then drives. At what BAC could this driver already be violating the zero-tolerance law?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C. One beer can push a young driver to 0.01%, the level where California's zero-tolerance law kicks in. The rule protects new drivers, whose crash risk rises quickly with alcohol. Skip every drink if you plan to drive.
2. A signal shows a flashing yellow arrow for a left turn. What does that allow?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. A flashing yellow arrow is a yield-and-turn: you may go left after judging gaps, because oncoming traffic still has a green. It is not a protected arrow. Flash yellow means you choose the gap; solid green arrow means the gap is held for you.
3. In places where marijuana can be bought legally, how do the laws treat driving while high?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D. Legal to use does not mean legal to drive impaired. Marijuana slows reactions and distorts judgment of time and distance, so impaired-driving laws still apply everywhere. Treat being high exactly the way you would treat being drunk.
4. Headed downhill at a curb, which way does the official CA handbook (nationally taught hill technique) turn the front wheels?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Official California Driver Handbook parking technique — taught the same way nationwide — says Headed downhill: Turn your front wheels into the curb or right toward the side of the road. Remember to set the parking brake and leave the vehicle in park, or in gear for manual transmission.
5. Drivers under 21 in California are held to a stricter alcohol standard than adults. What is the BAC threshold for these younger drivers?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Adults have a higher per-se number, but the under-21 standard in California is 0.01%. Alcohol is already off-limits for minors, so the driving rule matches: for young drivers, the practical limit is zero drinks.
6. How does NHTSA say alcohol changes the abilities needed to drive?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Official NHTSA drunk-driving guidance says Alcohol is a substance that reduces the function of the brain, impairing thinking, reasoning and muscle coordination. All these abilities are essential to operating a vehicle safely.
7. You are studying for the California permit knowledge exam and want to schedule it as early as the law allows. You can hold a learner's permit beginning at which age?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C. In California, 15½ is the earliest age for a learner's permit, so plan your knowledge exam around that date. Study the official handbook, since permit questions come from it, and arrive with the required documents ready.
8. A California signal is a flashing yellow light. What does it require?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. A flashing yellow in California is a warning: slow, scan, and continue if it is safe. It is not a stop and not a protected turn. Flash yellow means caution; flash red means stop.
9. Wide white stripes cross the pavement ahead, marking a crosswalk. What do these markings require of you as a driver?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C. Crosswalk stripes show where pedestrians are expected to cross, and drivers must yield to people within them. You stop only when someone is crossing or a sign or signal requires it. Painted stripes mean feet ahead.
10. Unless a local sign posts a different number, how far must you stay from a fire hydrant when you park?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Most state handbooks use a 15-foot keep-clear zone at hydrants so firefighters can hook up hoses without moving cars. Fifteen is the number social-study threads keep missing. If you can touch the hydrant from the door, you are too close.
11. What is the minimum age to apply for a learner's permit in California?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. California lets you apply for a learner's permit at 15½, according to the DMV. You still have to pass the knowledge and vision screens and meet any parent-consent rules. Age opens the door; it does not skip the test.
12. On its fastest highways, California allows a top posted speed limit of which value?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. The highest speed limit in California is 70 mph, and only certain highways are posted that high. Most roads carry lower limits, so drive by the signs in front of you, and slow down when conditions worsen.
13. Your car starts to skid on a wet curve. What is the first correct response?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. In a skid you need the tires to grip again: ease off the gas, avoid a hard stab at the brake if you can, and steer toward your intended path. Sudden inputs make the slide worse. Slow hands, slow feet, look where you want to go.
14. You are pulling out of a driveway onto a public street. What must you do?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D. A driver entering a road from a driveway, alley, or private road must yield to sidewalk pedestrians and to all traffic already on the roadway. Public-road users cannot predict your exit, so the burden is on the driver emerging.
15. You approach an intersection with no signs or signals, and another vehicle approaches from a cross street at about the same time. Who should yield?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. At an uncontrolled intersection, slow down and yield to any vehicle that reaches it at about the same time from your right. Without signs, this default rule sorts out conflicts. Same tiebreaker as a four-way stop: right goes first.
16. A yellow diamond shows two arrows pointing toward each other. What conflict is ahead?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. The two-way traffic warning tells you opposing cars will soon share the road, often after a divided or one-way segment. Keep right and expect headlights in the other lane. Two arrows, two directions.
17. If your tire drops off the edge of the pavement onto the shoulder, what does official ND driver-manual wording (nationally taught drop-off technique) tell you?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Official North Dakota Noncommercial Driver’s Manual wording — taught the same way in many state manuals — says If your tire drops off the edge of the pavement onto the shoulder, do not try to swerve back onto the pavement because you may lose control of your vehicle. Grip the steering wheel and ease up on the accelerator. After you have slowed down and are in complete control, look for traffic behind you, signal, and turn gently back onto the pavement.
18. You turn onto a quiet California street lined with houses and no speed sign. Unless a local rule posts something else, the usual default is:
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Unposted residential streets in California are generally 25 mph. Watch for school and work-zone drops. When houses line the road and no sign argues otherwise, think 25 mph.
19. An officer stops an adult driver in California and a breath test is given. At what BAC reading can that driver be charged with driving under the influence, even if their driving looked steady?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C. A BAC of 0.08% or more is enough by itself for a DUI charge in California. The law uses a fixed number because alcohol impairs everyone, and drivers are poor judges of their own impairment behind the wheel.
20. Along a curb you see a white sign with a large letter P inside a red circle and slash. What does it tell you?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C. A P covered by a red circle and slash is the international no-parking symbol, banning parking where the sign applies. It keeps curbs clear for visibility, hydrants, and traffic flow. Any symbol wearing the red slash is something you cannot do.
21. You hit a stretch of heavy rain and patchy fog on the highway. How should you adjust your speed?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. In rain or fog, reduce speed until you could stop within the distance you can actually see, since wet pavement stretches stopping distance and fog hides hazards. Drive by sight distance: if you cannot see it, slow for it.
22. A California traffic signal is completely dark. How should you treat the intersection?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. When a California signal is out, stop as if stop signs face every direction, then go when the way is clear. Nobody has a hidden green. Dark light, four-way stop.
23. On a multilane highway, white lines separate the lanes. What does the white color tell you about the traffic around you?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. White lines divide lanes of traffic that flow the same way, while yellow divides opposing flows. Reading line color at a glance tells you instantly where oncoming cars can be. White means with you, yellow means toward you.
24. A yellow diamond shows a truck tipping on a curved arrow. What should you do before the curve?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. The tipping-truck symbol marks a curve or ramp with a recommended lower speed for high-center vehicles — and a wise lower speed for everyone. Slow before you enter the curve, not in the middle of it.
25. A classmate in California claims the adult DUI line is 0.10%. The official per-se BAC for drivers 21 and older is which value?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C. Your classmate is using an outdated number. California treats 0.08% as the adult per-se line. Memorize the current figure from the official handbook, not a rumor from an older relative.
26. While you wait to turn, the green arrow changes to a steady yellow arrow. What is the signal telling you?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D. A steady yellow arrow warns that the protected turning phase is about to end. Stop if you can do so safely; drivers already at the point of no return may finish the turn cautiously. Yellow arrow means wrap up, not speed up.
27. You are delivering food to a house on an unposted residential street in California. Unless a sign changes it, what speed limit applies?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Unposted residential streets in California carry a default limit of 25 mph. The rule exists so drivers can stop for the unexpected, like a car backing out of a driveway. When a sign is posted, obey the sign instead.
28. You are passing a bicyclist on a two-lane road. How much space should you leave when you can?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. A common safe-passing standard is at least three feet, and more when you are going fast or the bike is wobbling. If you cannot give the space, wait. Squeezing by is how mirrors hit handlebars.
29. Headlights are required from sunset to sunrise. When else should you turn them on?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Wipers on, lights on is the rule many states write down and testers repeat. Lights help others see you as much as they help you see. If the sky is gray or the glass is wet, flip them on.
30. Your light is green in California, but the car ahead is still in the intersection. May you enter and block the box?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. California makes it illegal to enter an intersection you cannot fully clear before the signal turns red. Gridlock starts when drivers nose in on green and get stuck. If you cannot see an exit space, wait behind the line.
Enter or Space also advances.