Indiana Permit Practice Test 1
This free Indiana practice test has 30 multiple-choice questions covering road signs, right-of-way, speed limits, and safe driving — the same topics the BMV tests. You need 80% correct to pass the real BMV Knowledge Exam (two multiple-choice sections: traffic maneuvers and traffic signs).
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 Indiana knowledge test. You can hold a learner's permit beginning at which age?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Put 15 on the calendar for Indiana. That is the first legal day for a learner's permit, after you pass the knowledge and vision screens the BMV requires.
2. Before applying for a driver's license, how long must an Indiana driver under 21 hold a valid learner's permit?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C. Indiana requires drivers under 21 to hold their learner's permit for 180 days — about six months — before the driving skills exam. The wait builds supervised experience across seasons. Tie it to the number: 180 days, half a year.
3. An ice-cream truck is stopped ahead and children are gathered around it. How should you drive past?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C. Slow way down and cover your brake near children or a stopped ice-cream truck, because kids chase treats and forget traffic completely. Expect someone small to dart out. Around children, drive as if one already has.
4. What is the first official NHTSA TireWise step if you have a tire blowout while driving?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Official NHTSA TireWise blowout guidance says Hold the steering wheel with both hands. Gradually release the accelerator. Once your vehicle has stabilized, continue to slow down and pull off the road where and when you judge it’s safe to do so. Any overreaction – including slamming on the brakes – can result in a loss of control over the vehicle.
5. A school bus ahead stops with its red lights flashing on a two-lane road with no median. Which vehicles must stop?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D. On a road without a dividing median, traffic in both directions must stop for a school bus with flashing red lights and remain stopped until the lights turn off. Children may cross from either side, so every lane freezes.
6. What is the three-second following rule in good weather?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Pick a fixed mark. When the car ahead passes it, count one-thousand-one, two, three. You should not reach the mark sooner. That gap grows with speed. Double it in rain; triple it on ice. Testers treat this as the core distance question.
7. Your GPS routes you through a Indiana neighborhood of homes and parked cars with no posted speed limit. State law caps your speed there at what value?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D. State law gives unposted residential areas in Indiana a default cap of 30 mph. Parked cars shrink your view of crossing pedestrians, which is exactly why the cap is low. Posted signs, where present, replace the default.
8. A 19-year-old is pulled over in Indiana after a party. Under the zero-tolerance law, what BAC is enough for an underage drinking-and-driving violation?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D. For drivers under 21 in Indiana, a violation begins at 0.02%. Zero-tolerance laws exist because young, inexperienced drivers face high crash risk with any alcohol. If you are underage, the only legal amount is none.
9. Before turning left across oncoming traffic, why should you look twice for motorcycles?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. A motorcycle's narrow profile fools your eyes: it looks farther away and slower than it really is. Many rider deaths happen when cars turn left across their path. Look twice and judge twice before you commit.
10. You come to an intersection where the signal is flashing red. How should you treat it?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D. A flashing red light works exactly like a stop sign: stop fully, yield to traffic and pedestrians, then proceed when the way is clear. Flashing red still means red, so a complete stop is required.
11. Your younger sibling asks when they can get a learner's permit in Indiana. What age do you tell them?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Tell them 15; that is when Indiana allows a learner's permit application. Until then, driving on public roads is off the table. Graduated licensing phases in privileges so new drivers gain experience under lower-risk conditions.
12. What supervision does NHTSA require during the learner’s permit phase?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Official NHTSA GDL guidance says A learner’s permit allows driving only while supervised by a fully licensed driver. The leftover front-seat-only sentence is not on that page; this nearby official supervision rule is. Learn that official wording, then answer the knowledge test from those words.
13. Besides sunset to sunrise, when must Indiana drivers use headlights?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Indiana requires headlights between sunset and sunrise and at any other time visibility is less than 500 feet. When headlights are on, dim them for oncoming traffic. Five hundred feet is tighter than states that use a 1,000-foot rule.
14. Under Indiana's zero-tolerance law, what BAC level counts as a violation for a driver under 21?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Indiana's zero-tolerance law sets the under-21 threshold at 0.02%, far stricter than the adult standard. Underage drinking is illegal to begin with, so the safest and simplest rule is zero alcohol before driving.
15. Traffic ahead suddenly stacks up on a freeway. What is the safest speed choice?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. The posted limit is a maximum, not a target. In dense or slowing traffic you must drop to a speed that lets you stop in the space you can see. Basic speed law: do not drive faster than conditions allow.
16. An Indiana school bus has flashing red lights and the stop arm extended. When may you skip the stop?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Indiana requires a stop for a school bus with flashing red lights and an extended stop arm. If you are driving on a roadway divided by a barrier or unimproved median, you stop only when traveling in the same direction as the bus. Yellow flashing lights mean the bus is about to stop, so be ready.
17. In a work zone, an orange sign warns of a flagger ahead. The flagger signals you to stop, even though the traffic light beyond is green. What should you do?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C. Flaggers control traffic through work zones, and you must obey their directions even when they conflict with posted signs or signals. They can see hazards you cannot. Remember: in a work zone, the person outranks the light.
18. Setting cruise control on a rural Indiana interstate posted at the state maximum, you should set it no higher than which speed?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. The state maximum in Indiana is 70 mph, 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.
19. You must park on a hill where the road has no curb. Which way should you turn your wheels?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. With no curb to catch the car, always turn your wheels toward the road's edge, uphill or downhill. A runaway car then rolls off the travel lanes instead of into traffic. No curb: aim for the shoulder.
20. Under Indiana's Move Over law, you approach a stopped ambulance with flashing lights but cannot safely change lanes. What does the law require?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. When you cannot move over for a stopped emergency vehicle in Indiana, you must slow to 10 mph under the posted limit and pass carefully. Violations are Class A infractions. Move over if you can; slow down when you can't.
21. A round yellow sign with a black X and the letters RR is posted well before a crossing. What does that advance sign tell you?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. The circular railroad advance sign gives you time to slow, scan both ways, and be ready to stop. Do not stop on the tracks. Circle plus X means rails are coming; the crossbuck at the tracks is the actual yield-to-train sign.
22. How does the alcohol in a regular beer compare with a standard glass of wine or a single shot of liquor?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. A standard beer, glass of wine, and shot of liquor each deliver about the same alcohol, so switching drinks does not protect you. Your body counts drinks, not drink types. One is one, whatever the glass looks like.
23. You turn onto a quiet Indiana 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 Indiana are generally 30 mph. Watch for school and work-zone drops. When houses line the road and no sign argues otherwise, think 30 mph.
24. A yellow line runs down the middle of a two-lane road. What does the yellow color of a center line tell you?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Yellow center lines separate traffic moving in opposite directions, so anything across that line is oncoming. This color code works the same on every public road. Yellow in the middle means traffic meets there, not follows.
25. A freeway lane is marked with white diamond symbols, and a sign says the lane is for high-occupancy vehicles (HOV 2+). Who may drive in it during the posted hours?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Diamond-marked HOV lanes are reserved for vehicles meeting the posted occupancy, like two or more people in an HOV 2+ lane. Rewarding shared rides moves more people in fewer cars. The diamond means special rules, so read the sign before entering.
26. A white sign with a black arrow bending left and the word ONLY is over your lane. What does it require?
Show answer & explanation
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.
27. You are parking facing uphill on a street with a curb. Which way should you turn your front wheels?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. When parking uphill with a curb, turn the wheels away from the curb and let the car roll back until a tire rests against it. The curb then works as a block. Up and away is the memory cue.
28. A friend in Indiana says, 'I feel fine, so I can drive.' Feelings aside, the law sets the illegal BAC for drivers 21 and older at which number?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Feeling fine proves nothing; alcohol dulls the very judgment you use to check yourself. In Indiana, 0.08% is the per-se limit for adults, and measurable impairment often shows up well before a driver reaches it.
29. What first winter-driving step does NHTSA list on a slick surface?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Official NHTSA winter-driving guidance says Slow down. It’s harder to control or stop your vehicle on a slick or snow-covered surface. The leftover hard-brake-on-bridge sentence is not on that page; this nearby official slick-surface rule is.
30. What is the safest way to handle your speed through a sharp curve?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Slow to a safe speed before the curve begins, then hold steady or gently accelerate through it. Braking mid-curve can break tire grip and cause a skid. Do your slowing on the straightaway, your steering in the bend.
Enter or Space also advances.