Mississippi Permit Practice Test 1
This free Mississippi practice test has 30 multiple-choice questions covering road signs, right-of-way, speed limits, and safe driving — the same topics the DPS tests. Check the DPS site for the current question count and passing score.
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. When must Mississippi headlights be used besides open-country night driving?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Mississippi says use your lights between sunset and sunrise and at any other time you cannot see clearly ahead for 500 feet. Do not drive with only parking lights. Use the lower beam when approaching or following another car, where there are streetlights, and in fog day or night.
2. A friend says every US interstate is 80 mph. In Mississippi, the highest posted highway limit is actually:
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Interstate limits vary. Mississippi tops out at 70 mph where posted. Learn the number for your state, then obey the sign in front of you, which is often lower.
3. Under Mississippi's zero-tolerance law, what BAC level counts as a violation for a driver under 21?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Mississippi'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.
4. You are driving at night and can only make out the eight-sided outline of a sign ahead. Even before reading it, what does that shape tell you to do?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C. The octagon is reserved for stop signs alone, so the shape itself orders a full stop. This lets you obey the sign even when snow, glare, or darkness hides the word. Eight sides always equals stop.
5. You are studying for the Mississippi 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 Mississippi, 15 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.
6. A vehicle in front of you is stalled on railroad tracks and will not restart. The crossing lights start to flash. What should you do?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. People beat cars. Evacuate at once and run toward the train at an angle so debris is less likely to hit you if the car is struck. Do not stand on the tracks. Restart attempts end when the lights start.
7. Without reading any words, what does a yellow, diamond-shaped sign tell you?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C. Yellow diamonds are warning signs: they alert you to hazards or changing conditions such as curves, intersections, or merging traffic. They advise rather than order. Shape and color alone should make you lift off the gas.
8. You have signaled and checked your mirrors before a lane change. What is the one step left before you move over?
Show answer & explanation
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.
9. What driving does NHTSA say a learner’s permit allows?
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. An intermediate license allows unsupervised driving under certain restrictions. The leftover solo-practice claim is not on that page.
10. You want to park on a street just before a crosswalk. What minimum clearance do most handbooks require?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. A common handbook rule is 20 feet from a crosswalk so turning drivers and pedestrians can see each other. Parking closer hides people in the stripes. Twenty before the walk, then the hydrant's fifteen, is the pair testers expect.
11. What does NHTSA say happens to alcohol after it enters the bloodstream?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Official NHTSA drunk-driving guidance says alcohol passes into the bloodstream where it accumulates until it is metabolized by the liver. The leftover coffee-or-shower sobriety claim is not on that page; this nearby official body text is.
12. A person with a white cane is about to cross the street ahead of you. What must you do?
Show answer & explanation
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.
13. On a two-lane road, the center line nearest your lane is broken yellow, while the line on the far side is solid yellow. When may you cross it to pass?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C. A broken yellow line on your side means passing is permitted from your direction, but only when oncoming traffic is far enough away to pass safely. Broken means you may cross; solid means stay put.
14. You are making a study calendar for the Mississippi 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 Mississippi. That is the first legal day for a learner's permit, after you pass the knowledge and vision screens the DPS requires.
15. You are on a through street. A driver on a driveway to your right is waiting to enter. Who must yield?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Drivers leaving a driveway, alley, or parking lot yield to all traffic on the street, including bikes and people walking. The street already has the flow. Think: entering traffic waits; through traffic keeps moving unless a sign says otherwise.
16. BAC measures the percentage of alcohol in a person's blood. For drivers 21 and older in Mississippi, what BAC puts them at or over the legal limit?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C. BAC stands for blood alcohol concentration. In Mississippi, adult drivers reach the illegal level at 0.08%. Remember the rule as a hard line: at 0.08% you are over, and skills like reaction time fade even sooner.
17. A power outage has left the traffic signals at an intersection completely dark. What should you do?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. When a signal is completely dark, treat the intersection as an all-way stop: stop fully, yield to vehicles that arrived first, and proceed in turn. This shared rule keeps order when the usual electronic referee is offline.
18. A Mississippi school bus is stopped in a loading zone that is part of or next to the highway, where pedestrians are not allowed to cross. Must opposite or passing traffic stop?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Mississippi generally requires a stop for a school bus with flashing red lights or an extended stop sign, including from both directions on an undivided road. The exception is a loading zone on or next to the highway where pedestrians may not cross the roadway.
19. You are driving at night with high beams on when a vehicle approaches from the other direction. What should you do?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Dim to low beams for oncoming traffic so you do not blind another driver. If glare hits you, look toward the right edge of your lane to stay on course. Courtesy with light keeps everyone able to see.
20. A pedestrian is crossing your half of the street in a crosswalk at an intersection without signals. What must you do?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Drivers must yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk, and crosswalks legally exist at intersections even when no lines are painted. People on foot have no protection in a collision, so treat every corner as a possible crosswalk.
21. How long must a Mississippi learner's permit be held before an intermediate license, and when does that wait disappear?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Mississippi issues a learner's permit at 15 with a licensed driver 21 or older beside you. The permit must be held at least twelve months; out-of-state permit time counts, and the wait disappears at 17. Do not invent a published knowledge-test retake wait — that field is still needs_review.
22. What space does NHTSA tell you to give a speeding driver?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Official NHTSA speeding guidance says Give speeding drivers plenty of space. Speeding drivers may lose control of their vehicle more easily. The leftover slow-vehicle-blocks-flow sentence is not on that page; this nearby official space rule is.
23. A Mississippi traffic signal is a flashing yellow light. What must you do?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Mississippi says a flashing yellow light means you must slow down and exercise caution. It is not a free pass and it is not a stop sign. Check cross traffic and pedestrians, then proceed only when the way is clear.
24. A 19-year-old is pulled over in Mississippi 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 Mississippi, 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.
25. 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.
26. Which sign shape and color combination marks an interstate route?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D. Interstate routes are marked by a shield split into a red band on top and a blue field below, with white numbers. Spotting the shield quickly helps you follow or avoid a freeway. Shield equals interstate.
27. 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.
28. A 30-year-old driver in Mississippi takes a chemical test after a crash. Prosecutors can prove DUI from the test result alone once the BAC is at least which value?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D. A test showing 0.08% or higher proves per-se DUI in Mississippi without any other evidence of impairment. Lawmakers chose that threshold because crash risk climbs sharply near it, though alcohol degrades driving skills at lower levels too.
29. Setting cruise control on a rural Mississippi 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 Mississippi 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.
30. 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.
Enter or Space also advances.