Illinois Permit Practice Test 2
A second full-length Illinois practice test: 30 fresh multiple-choice questions with zero repeats from Test 1. The real SOS Written exam (traffic laws and traffic sign identification) has 35 questions, and you need 28 correct (80%) to pass.
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. You are making a study calendar for the Illinois knowledge test. You can hold a learner's permit beginning at which age?
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Correct answer: B. Put 15 on the calendar for Illinois. That is the first legal day for a learner's permit, after you pass the knowledge and vision screens the SOS requires.
2. A GPS in Illinois suggests 40 mph on a residential block with no posted limit. The handbook-style default you should prefer is:
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Correct answer: C. Apps guess; Illinois's default for this kind of street is 30 mph (urban district default; 15 mph in alleys) unless a sign posts otherwise. Believe the sign first, then the state's default, then the gadget.
3. A pedestrian has stepped into a marked crosswalk on your street, and the light is green for you. What must you do?
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Correct answer: B. Pedestrians in a crosswalk have the right-of-way even when your light is green. Stop or slow until they are clear. A green light does not let you run someone over. People in the stripes go first.
4. It is late at night and the unposted residential streets in your Illinois neighborhood are empty. The legal maximum for these streets remains which speed?
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Correct answer: C. Empty or busy, day or night, the default limit on unposted residential streets in Illinois stays 30 mph (urban district default; 15 mph in alleys). Darkness actually cuts how far you can see and react, so conditions may call for less, not more, than the limit.
5. You park facing downhill on a street with a curb. Where should your front wheels point?
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Correct answer: C. When parking downhill with a curb, turn your front wheels toward the curb; if the car rolls, the tire wedges against the curb instead of drifting into traffic. Think downhill, dive toward the curb, and set the brake.
6. You see an Illinois State Police car stopped on the shoulder ahead with its lights flashing. Under Illinois's Move Over Law, known as Scott's Law, what must you do on a four-lane road?
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Correct answer: B. Scott's Law requires Illinois drivers approaching a stationary emergency vehicle with flashing lights to change lanes away when safe, or slow down with due caution if not. Fines run $250 to $10,000 for a first offense. Hook: flashing lights, give a lane.
7. Why do speed limits drop in highway work zones?
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Correct answer: A. Work zones squeeze traffic past workers, machinery, narrowed lanes, and sudden stops, so limits drop to give everyone more reaction time. Many places also raise fines there. Slow down where people are standing next to moving traffic.
8. The traffic signal is dark at an intersection because of a power failure. How should you treat it?
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Correct answer: A. A dark signal is treated like a stop sign in every direction so nobody assumes they have a green. Come to a full stop, then apply the usual all-way-stop order. No lights means nobody has a free pass.
9. A pentagon-shaped fluorescent yellow-green sign shows two walking children. What is it warning you about?
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Correct answer: B. The five-sided shape is reserved for school and school-crossing signs. Slow down and watch for children who may step off the curb without looking. Pentagon plus kids means school.
10. An Illinois traffic signal is a flashing red stop signal. What must you do?
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Correct answer: A. 625 ILCS 5/11-309 treats a flashing red as a stop signal. Stop at the marked line, or before the crosswalk, or at the nearest point with a view, then follow ordinary stop-sign rules. Do not treat the flash as a broken green.
11. You have signaled and checked your mirrors before a lane change. What is the one step left before you move over?
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Correct answer: C. Mirrors leave blind spots big enough to hide a whole car, so turn your head for a quick over-the-shoulder check before moving over. Signal, mirrors, head check: the lane change is not done until your neck moves.
12. An emergency vehicle is coming up behind you with lights and siren on a two-lane street. What should you do?
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Correct answer: B. Pull to the right and stop, clearing the lane. If you are in an intersection, clear it first, then pull over. Do not slam-stop in the path. Lights and siren mean yield the road, not freeze in the middle.
13. A white sign with a black arrow bending left and the word ONLY is over your lane. What does it require?
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Correct answer: B. A black arrow plus ONLY assigns that lane to one movement. If you need to go straight, change lanes before the marking. Lane-control signs win over habit; follow the arrow you are sitting under.
14. Setting cruise control on a rural Illinois interstate posted at the state maximum, you should set it no higher than which speed?
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Correct answer: B. The state maximum in Illinois is 70 mph (interstate highways), so cruise control should not be set above it where that limit is posted. Think of the posted limit as a ceiling for ideal conditions, not a required speed.
15. You stop at a red light planning to turn right, and a white sign beside the signal reads NO TURN ON RED. What does the sign change?
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Correct answer: A. Many places allow a right turn on red after a complete stop, but a NO TURN ON RED sign removes that option. It appears where crosswalks or sight lines make red-light turns risky. When posted, red simply means wait.
16. Traffic around you on a Illinois highway posted at the state maximum starts flowing faster than the signs allow. Your personal legal limit remains which speed?
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Correct answer: C. Other drivers speeding does not raise your limit; on Illinois's fastest highways it stays 70 mph (interstate highways). Move right and let them pass instead of matching them. Speed limits bind each driver individually, whatever the surrounding traffic does.
17. What does official NHTSA Move Over guidance tell you to do when flashing lights are stopped on the shoulder?
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Correct answer: A. Official NHTSA Move Over guidance says All states require drivers to move over and slow down for emergency vehicles with flashing lights. Drivers approaching the vehicle should change into a lane not immediately adjacent to the vehicle, or slow down to a reasonable speed if you’re unable to safely make a lane change.
18. A person with a white cane is about to cross the street ahead of you. What must you do?
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Correct answer: A. A white cane or guide dog marks a pedestrian who is blind, and that person has the right-of-way every time. Stop if needed and do not honk, which can confuse them. White cane means your brakes, not your horn.
19. In Illinois, supervised behind-the-wheel practice with a permit can begin once a teen reaches which age?
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Correct answer: C. Supervised practice starts at 15 in Illinois, once the teen holds a learner's permit. Every practice hour with a licensed adult builds judgment that classroom study alone cannot teach, which is why the permit stage exists.
20. What should you do when you approach an intersection with a flashing yellow light?
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Correct answer: C. A flashing yellow light does not require a stop; it tells you to slow down, scan the intersection, and proceed carefully. It marks spots with extra risk, so treat flashing yellow as a caution flag, not a green light.
21. The posted limit is unchanged, but traffic, weather, and light have all gotten worse. What does the basic speed rule require?
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Correct answer: C. The basic speed rule says you may not drive faster than conditions safely allow, no matter what the sign posts. Rain, darkness, and crowds shrink your margin for error. Conditions set the real limit; the sign sets the ceiling.
22. In Illinois, a driver who is 21 or older breaks the law by driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at or above what level?
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Correct answer: A. Illinois law makes it illegal to drive with a BAC of 0.08% or higher. Alcohol slows judgment and reaction time, and impairment can begin well below that number. Treat 0.08% as a legal line, not a safe target.
23. An officer in Illinois stops a driver who is 18. A test shows a very small amount of alcohol. The under-21 threshold that can trigger a violation is:
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Correct answer: C. Under-21 drivers in Illinois are not judged by the adult 0.08%-style line. The threshold is any detectable amount. That is why testers keep asking the youth number separately from the adult number.
24. In places where marijuana can be bought legally, how do the laws treat driving while high?
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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.
25. Which pair of official NHTSA NDR codes records driving while a license is revoked versus suspended?
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Correct answer: A. Official 23 CFR 1327 Appendix A (NHTSA NDR) lists B25 Driving while license revoked and B26 Driving while license suspended as separate codes. The leftover temporary-versus-erased definition is state terminology; this nearby official national code pair is.
26. How far from other traffic must an Illinois driver dim headlights?
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Correct answer: A. 625 ILCS 5/12-210 requires an Illinois driver to dim or drop headlamps within 500 feet of a vehicle approaching from the opposite direction, and when another vehicle is traveling the same way less than 300 feet ahead. Auxiliary driving lamps must be extinguished in both cases.
27. A sign at an intersection shows a left-curving arrow inside a red circle with a diagonal slash. What must you do there?
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Correct answer: D. A slashed left arrow forbids left turns at that intersection, often because turning across oncoming traffic there causes crashes or blocks flow. Plan another route, such as continuing straight and circling the block. The slash cancels only the movement shown.
28. Where is the official Illinois driver handbook published?
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Correct answer: A. The SOS publishes the Illinois handbook for free. That book is the source the knowledge test is written from. Our questions are original study items grounded in those rules, not a substitute for reading the handbook.
29. Which official NHTSA NDR code records a financial-responsibility failure?
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Correct answer: A. Official 23 CFR 1327 Appendix A lists D35 Failure to comply with financial responsibility law and B63 Failed to file future proof of financial responsibility. The leftover insurance-or-keys mnemonic is not on that page; this nearby official national code is.
30. A yellow diamond sign shows two arrows curving apart around an oval island. What is this sign telling you about the road ahead?
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Correct answer: D. The divided highway begins sign means opposing traffic will soon be separated by a median or barrier. Stay right of the divider and do not cross it. Picture the two arrows as lanes splitting around an island you must not enter.
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