Washington Permit Practice Test 2
A second full-length Washington practice test: 30 fresh multiple-choice questions with zero repeats from Test 1. The real DOL knowledge test has 40 questions, and you need 32 correct (80%) to pass.
Question 1 of 30
1. A classmate insists everyone must wait until 18 to start driving in Washington. The real minimum age for a learner's permit is which of these?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D. Your classmate is wrong: Washington grants learner's permits at 15. Starting earlier gives you months of supervised practice while risk is lowest. When rules feel fuzzy, confirm them in the official state driver handbook.
2. 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.
3. You are entering a roundabout. Which statement describes the correct way to use it?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Entering drivers yield to vehicles already circulating in the roundabout, then merge and travel counterclockwise to the exit. Because everyone flows one way and entries wait, roundabouts avoid head-on conflicts. The circle already moving always wins.
4. A 30-year-old driver in Washington 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 Washington 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.
5. What is a reliable way to judge whether you are following the vehicle ahead too closely?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Pick a fixed marker like a pole or shadow; when the vehicle ahead passes it, count seconds until you arrive. Counting seconds works at any speed, unlike guessing car lengths. The road itself becomes your measuring tape.
6. What does the term "no-zone" mean when you drive near a large truck?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C. No-zones are the huge blind spots in front of, behind, and beside a large truck where the driver simply cannot see you. A quick test: if you cannot see the driver's face in the truck's mirror, you are invisible.
7. What is double parking, and why is it against the rules?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D. Double parking means standing or parking in the roadway alongside a vehicle already parked at the curb. It blocks a travel lane, hides pedestrians, and pins in the parked car, so the practice is prohibited on public streets.
8. It is late at night and the unposted residential streets in your Washington neighborhood are empty. The legal maximum for these streets remains which speed?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C. Empty or busy, day or night, the default limit on unposted residential streets in Washington stays 25 mph. Darkness actually cuts how far you can see and react, so conditions may call for less, never more, than the limit.
9. How does alcohol change the skills you rely on to drive?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Alcohol slows your reactions, throws off coordination, and blurs and narrows vision, so every core driving skill suffers at once. Impairment starts before you feel drunk. Think of alcohol as turning down every dial you drive with.
10. You are involved in a crash with another vehicle. What does the law require you to do?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D. After any crash you are part of, stop at once, get help for the injured, trade license, registration, and insurance details, and report the crash when required. Leaving without doing these turns an accident into a crime.
11. An emergency vehicle is stopped on the shoulder ahead with lights flashing. What do move-over laws require?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D. Every state has a move-over law: shift a lane away from stopped emergency or service vehicles with flashing lights, or slow well down when changing lanes is unsafe. Roadside workers stand inches from traffic; give them that lane.
12. How much does Washington charge for a first-time instruction permit?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C. Washington's learner permit costs $35, and the permit stays valid for one year with up to two renewals. Budget for separate testing fees, which vary by location. Tie it together: thirty-five dollars, twelve months.
13. Why do states phase in driving privileges through graduated driver licensing (GDL) programs?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. GDL programs add privileges in stages, from supervised practice to restricted solo driving to a full license, because crash risk peaks in a driver's first months. Skills grow with mileage, so the system lets experience catch up first.
14. What happens when a car hydroplanes on a wet road?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C. Hydroplaning happens when tires ride up on a layer of water instead of the pavement, erasing steering and braking grip. Higher speeds make it far more likely. Ease off the gas smoothly; think of tires turning into water skis.
15. 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.
16. While planning a road trip across Washington, you look up the fastest speed any of its highways allow. What is that statewide maximum?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Washington's top speed limit is 70 mph, found only on its fastest designated highways. Expect lower posted limits on most stretches, and remember signs always control: the maximum applies only where a sign actually posts it.
17. A friend in Washington 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 Washington, 0.08% is the per-se limit for adults, and measurable impairment often shows up well before a driver reaches it.
18. You just earned your Washington intermediate license. During your first 6 months, which passengers under age 20 may ride with you?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C. For the first six months, Washington intermediate licensees may carry passengers under 20 only if they are immediate family. Young passengers multiply crash risk for new drivers. Think: first six months, family only.
19. On a multilane Washington highway, which situation allows you to stay in the left lane for an extended stretch?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Washington's keep-right law reserves the left lane mainly for passing; continuously driving there while impeding other traffic is an infraction. Blocked left lanes breed tailgating and road rage. Pass, then slide back right.
20. 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.
21. Your 20-year-old cousin is the designated driver tonight in Washington. To obey the zero-tolerance law, they must keep their BAC below what threshold?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. In Washington, drivers under 21 violate the zero-tolerance law once their BAC reaches 0.02%. A true designated driver drinks nothing at all; that is the whole job, and it keeps every passenger legally and physically safe.
22. You are counting down the days until you can start driving in Washington. The earliest age you can hold a learner's permit is which of these?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D. The countdown ends at 15, the minimum learner's permit age in Washington. Starting at the minimum is smart: more months of supervised practice before licensure means more experience with traffic, weather, and night driving while coached.
23. The light is steady green as you reach an intersection. Which statement is true?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. A green light means you may proceed, but only after yielding to pedestrians and vehicles still clearing the intersection. Green grants permission, not protection, so look left, right, and left again before you enter.
24. Can prescription pills or over-the-counter cold medicine lead to an impaired-driving charge?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Impaired-driving laws care about your condition, not the label on the bottle, so prescription and over-the-counter medicines that cause drowsiness or slow reactions can bring a DUI charge. Read warning labels before you drive, not after.
25. An orange sign with a black arrow reads DETOUR. What is this sign telling you?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Detour signs guide you along a temporary route when the normal road is closed, often for construction or an emergency. Keep following the arrows until the detour ends, and the route will return you to your original road.
26. Without reading any words, what does a yellow, diamond-shaped sign always 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.
27. You park facing downhill on a street with a curb. Where should your front wheels point?
Show answer & explanation
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.
28. You're approaching a fully posted school crosswalk in Washington. What speed limit applies in the marked school zone?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Washington school zones are 20 mph where posted, and the zone stretches 300 feet on each side of a marked crosswalk. Lower speed sharply cuts the chance a struck child dies. Think: two-zero near school doors.
29. Children are playing near the curb on an unposted neighborhood street in Washington. Unless a sign says otherwise, the fastest you may legally drive here is which speed?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. The default residential limit in Washington is 25 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.
30. A center lane is bordered on each side by a solid yellow line with a broken yellow line inside it, and white left-turn arrows are painted for both directions. How may you use this lane?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. A two-way left-turn lane is shared by both directions for left turns only. Enter just before your turn, watch for opposing drivers using the same lane, and never travel or pass in it. Turn, do not cruise.
Your result
0 / 30