New Hampshire Permit Practice Test 1
This free New Hampshire practice test has 30 multiple-choice questions covering road signs, right-of-way, speed limits, and safe driving — the same topics the DMV tests. The real DMV Driver License Knowledge Test has 40 questions, and you need 32 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. 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.
2. Children are playing near the curb on an unposted neighborhood street in New Hampshire. Unless a sign says otherwise, the fastest you may legally drive here is which speed?
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Correct answer: A. The default residential limit in New Hampshire is 30 mph unless otherwise posted. With children nearby, you should often go slower still, because stopping distance grows quickly with speed and kids can dart into the street without warning.
3. Can a small amount of alcohol affect driving, according to NHTSA?
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Correct answer: A. Official NHTSA drunk-driving guidance says even a small amount of alcohol can affect driving ability. Even small amounts of alcohol affect one’s brain and the ability to drive. Testers invent leftover one-beer-is-nothing courtesy.
4. You are convicted of a first-offense DWI in New Hampshire. Besides a Class B misdemeanor record, what penalties should you expect?
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Correct answer: A. A first New Hampshire DWI brings a fine of at least $500, license loss from 9 months up to 2 years, and a required impaired-driver education program. Hook: five hundred minimum, most of a year gone.
5. You are delivering food to a house on an unposted residential street in New Hampshire. Unless a sign changes it, what speed limit applies?
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Correct answer: A. Unposted residential streets in New Hampshire carry a default limit of 30 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.
6. After two drinks at a barbecue in New Hampshire, you consider driving home. For a driver 21 or older, that becomes illegal starting at which BAC?
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Correct answer: A. Driving in New Hampshire becomes a per-se DUI at a BAC of 0.08%. Drinks affect people differently, so you cannot reliably guess your number. When you have been drinking, the smart decision is simply to skip driving.
7. Which sign shape and color combination marks an interstate route?
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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.
8. A white sign shows a black number 25 inside a red circle. In the US, what does that usually indicate?
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Correct answer: C. A red circle around a number is the international speed-limit format, used in some US areas to show kilometers per hour. Do not treat it as 25 mph unless a miles-per-hour plaque says so. Check the unit before you match the number.
9. A 30-year-old driver in New Hampshire takes a chemical test after a crash. Prosecutors can prove DUI from the test result alone once the BAC is at least which value?
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Correct answer: D. A test showing 0.08% or higher proves per-se DUI in New Hampshire 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.
10. 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.
11. Why is it illegal to park on a sidewalk or in a crosswalk?
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Correct answer: B. Sidewalks and crosswalks are reserved walking space; a parked car there pushes pedestrians, strollers, and wheelchairs out into traffic lanes. The law keeps walking paths continuous and safe. If people walk there, your car does not belong there.
12. Unless a local sign posts a different number, how far must you stay from a fire hydrant when you park?
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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.
13. Drivers under 21 in New Hampshire are held to a stricter alcohol standard than adults. What is the BAC threshold for these younger drivers?
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Correct answer: B. Adults have a higher per-se number, but the under-21 standard in New Hampshire is 0.02%. Alcohol is already off-limits for minors, so the driving rule matches: for young drivers, the practical limit is zero drinks.
14. Only one road sign is shaped like a sideways pennant, a triangle with its point aimed to the right. Which sign is it?
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Correct answer: A. The sideways yellow pennant is used for one message only: NO PASSING ZONE. It stands on the left side of the road where passing begins to be unsafe. One shape, one meaning makes it instantly recognizable.
15. A passenger claims some New Hampshire highways have unlimited speed like the German autobahn. In reality, the state's highest legal limit is which of these?
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Correct answer: D. Every road in New Hampshire has a limit, and the statewide ceiling is 70 mph on designated highways. Higher speeds multiply crash energy dramatically, so no US state allows unlimited speed. Follow whatever limit is actually posted.
16. The vehicle ahead displays an orange triangle with a red border on its rear. What does that tell you?
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Correct answer: D. The orange triangle is the slow-moving vehicle emblem, common on farm equipment and horse-drawn wagons. You close in on these vehicles faster than you expect, so back off early and pass only with a clear, legal gap.
17. You see a white square sign showing a curved U-shaped arrow inside a red circle with a slash through it. What is prohibited?
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Correct answer: B. The slashed U-arrow bans U-turns at that location, usually because oncoming drivers cannot see you turn around in time. Continue to a spot where reversing direction is legal and safe. Red circle plus slash means the pictured move is forbidden.
18. Before turning left across oncoming traffic, why should you look twice for motorcycles?
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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.
19. A New Hampshire traffic signal is a flashing red stop signal. What must you do?
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Correct answer: A. RSA 265:12 treats flashing red as a stop signal. Stop before the nearest crosswalk, or at a marked limit line, or before the intersection, then follow ordinary stop-sign rules. The section does not apply at railroad grade crossings, which follow RSA 265:49.
20. Your street ends at a T-intersection with a through road. Who has the right-of-way?
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Correct answer: B. When your road ends at a T-intersection, traffic on the continuing through road has the right-of-way, and you must yield before turning onto it. The road that ends waits; picture the through road as the main current.
21. You are on an entrance ramp about to merge onto a freeway. Who is responsible for yielding?
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Correct answer: A. Drivers merging onto a freeway must yield to traffic already on it, using the ramp to match speed and slide into a gap. Through traffic cannot stop safely at highway speeds, so the entering driver adapts.
22. You are approaching an intersection and the traffic light turns steady red. What must you do?
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Correct answer: C. A steady red light requires a full stop before the stop line or crosswalk, or before entering the intersection if there is no line. Stopping at the line protects people crossing. Remember: red means stop, every time.
23. How does NHTSA say alcohol changes the abilities needed to drive?
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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.
24. A New Hampshire school zone sign is posted near an elementary school. Around opening and dismissal times, what speed limit applies?
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Correct answer: D. New Hampshire school-zone limits drop 10 mph below the posted speed during the 45-minute windows around school opening and closing. Children cross unpredictably then. Hook: subtract ten while kids stream in or out.
25. 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.
26. Do automated driver-assistance features remove your duty to watch the road, according to NHTSA?
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Correct answer: A. Official NHTSA automated-vehicle guidance says Every vehicle currently for sale in the United States requires the full attention of the driver at all times for safe operation. Even the highest level of driving automation available to consumers requires the full engagement and undivided attention of drivers.
27. A 17-year-old New Hampshire youth operator is convicted of driving more than 30 mph over the posted limit. What does this trigger?
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Correct answer: C. New Hampshire treats speeding more than 30 mph over the limit like DWI or reckless driving for youth operators: it stacks additional penalties on top of ordinary suspensions. Hook: thirty-over puts you in the most serious tier.
28. New Hampshire enforces 'zero tolerance' for underage drinking and driving. In practice, a driver under 21 violates this law at what BAC?
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Correct answer: A. Zero tolerance in New Hampshire means the under-21 line sits at 0.02%, so even one drink can end in a suspended license. The memory hook is simple: under 21 means zero drinks before you drive.
29. On its fastest highways, New Hampshire allows a top posted speed limit of which value?
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Correct answer: A. The highest speed limit in New Hampshire 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.
30. A school-zone sign is posted 25 mph, and children are on the sidewalk. The next block is posted 35. When may you return to 35?
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Correct answer: B. School-zone speeds apply through the marked zone while children are present or the lights flash, depending on the sign. Do not jump back to the higher limit at the building line. Wait for the zone to end.
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