Washington Permit Practice Test 1
This free Washington practice test has 30 multiple-choice questions covering road signs, right-of-way, speed limits, and safe driving — the same topics the DOL tests. The real DOL knowledge test has 40 questions, and you need 32 correct (80%) to pass.
Question 1 of 30
1. Which driving skill does alcohol usually weaken first, often before you feel any different?
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Correct answer: A. Alcohol reaches your judgment before anything else, so you lose the very skill needed to notice you are impaired. That is why drinkers often insist they are fine. Remember: the first thing to go is the ability to know.
2. Your right wheels drop off the pavement onto a soft shoulder. What should you do?
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Correct answer: B. If your wheels leave the pavement, do not yank the wheel; ease off the gas, slow down, and steer back gently once traffic allows. A sudden jerk against the pavement lip can flip or launch the car.
3. You hold only a learner's permit and your supervising adult is unavailable. When may you drive by yourself?
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Correct answer: C. A permit never allows solo driving; a qualified supervisor must ride with you every time. Getting caught alone can mean tickets, permit suspension, and a longer wait for your license. Shortcuts here only stretch out the process.
4. You turn off a busy road into a quiet subdivision in Washington and see no speed limit sign on the new street. Your maximum legal speed is now which value?
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Correct answer: D. Once you enter an unposted residential street in Washington, the limit drops to the default of 25 mph. Slow down as you turn in; the quiet look of a subdivision hides driveways, cyclists, and children near the pavement.
5. Graduated driver licensing (GDL) in Washington moves teens through permit, intermediate, and full-license stages. Entry into the first stage, the learner's permit, begins at what age?
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Correct answer: A. GDL entry in Washington starts with a learner's permit at 15. Each stage lifts restrictions as skill grows, because crash risk is highest in a driver's first solo months. The ladder starts at 15; climb it patiently.
6. 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?
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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.
7. 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.
8. You and another driver stop at a four-way stop at exactly the same time, and the other car is on your right. What should you do?
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Correct answer: D. When two drivers stop at the same moment, the driver on the left yields to the driver on the right. This tiebreaker gives everyone the same answer without guessing. Remember the phrase: right goes right away.
9. BAC measures the percentage of alcohol in a person's blood. For drivers 21 and older in Washington, what BAC puts them at or over the legal limit?
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Correct answer: C. BAC stands for blood alcohol concentration. In Washington, 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.
10. Before you can get your first Washington driver license at 16 or 17, how much supervised practice driving must an adult certify?
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Correct answer: A. Washington requires 50 certified practice hours, 40 in daylight plus 10 at night, supervised by an experienced licensed adult. Night driving is riskier and needs its own practice. Memory hook: five-zero total, one-zero after dark.
11. The signal shows a green arrow for your left turn. What does having a 'protected' turn mean?
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Correct answer: B. A green arrow gives you a protected turn: conflicting traffic is held by a red signal. Still glance for people or vehicles already in the intersection, because protected means favored, not guaranteed safe.
12. 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 always means the pictured move is forbidden.
13. 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.
14. You are passing a slow truck on a Washington highway posted at the state's maximum limit. Even while passing, your legal ceiling stays at which speed?
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Correct answer: B. Passing grants zero extra speed allowance; in Washington the ceiling on those top-posted highways stays 70 mph. If you cannot complete the pass within the limit, wait for a better gap. The limit binds every maneuver, always.
15. A power outage has left the traffic signals at an intersection completely dark. What should you do?
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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.
16. In Washington, what is the youngest age at which you can apply for a learner's permit?
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Correct answer: B. Washington issues learner's permits starting at age 15. The permit opens the first stage of graduated licensing, where you build skills with a supervising adult before earning fuller privileges. Know your state's number; it varies nationwide.
17. 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.
18. How long must you hold a Washington instruction permit before you can apply for an intermediate license at age 16?
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Correct answer: D. Washington teens must hold an instruction permit at least six months before getting an intermediate license. The waiting period guarantees a long stretch of supervised experience. Pair it up: six months holding, fifty hours practicing.
19. Under Washington law, an adult driver commits DUI when a blood test taken within two hours of driving shows what THC level?
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Correct answer: D. Washington's DUI statute sets the THC threshold at 5.00 nanograms per milliliter of blood, measured within two hours of driving. Cannabis slows reaction time just like alcohol. Match the pair: 0.08 alcohol, 5.00 THC.
20. Unless signs say otherwise, what is the default speed limit on Washington county roads?
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Correct answer: C. Washington law sets defaults when no sign is posted: 25 mph on city streets, 50 mph on county roads, and 60 mph on state highways. Climb the ladder, 25 then 50 then 60, as roads get bigger.
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 never 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. Ahead of a raised concrete median you see a white sign reading KEEP RIGHT with an arrow curving to the right. What should you do?
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Correct answer: A. KEEP RIGHT tells you the roadway splits around an island, median, or obstruction, and all traffic must pass on the right side. Passing left would put you into oncoming lanes. Follow the arrow around the obstacle, then continue straight.
23. You are delivering food to a house on an unposted residential street in Washington. Unless a sign changes it, what speed limit applies?
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Correct answer: A. Unposted residential streets in Washington carry a default limit of 25 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.
24. In which situations should you add extra following distance behind the vehicle ahead?
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Correct answer: C. Add following distance whenever stopping gets harder or seeing gets worse: slick roads, tailgaters behind you, big trucks blocking your view, or motorcycles that can stop quickly. More risk always calls for more room ahead of you.
25. You are parking facing uphill on a street with a curb. Which way should you turn your front wheels?
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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.
26. In Washington, a driver who is 21 or older commits a per-se drunk-driving offense once their blood alcohol concentration reaches which level?
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Correct answer: B. 'Per se' means the number alone proves the offense. In Washington, that number is 0.08%. No other proof of bad driving is needed at that level, and alcohol can still impair you below it.
27. Two solid yellow lines run down the center of the road. What do they prohibit?
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Correct answer: D. Double solid yellow lines ban passing for traffic in both directions, because sight distance or traffic makes passing unsafe there. Crossing is generally allowed only to turn into a driveway or side road, never to overtake.
28. Why is texting on a handheld phone one of the most dangerous things a driver can do?
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Correct answer: A. Texting combines all three types of distraction at once: visual, manual, and cognitive, since your eyes, hands, and thoughts all leave the road together. A driver who is not looking, holding, or thinking is barely driving at all.
29. Washington 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 Washington 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.
30. Wide white stripes cross the pavement ahead, marking a crosswalk. What do these markings require of you as a driver?
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Correct answer: C. Crosswalk stripes show where pedestrians are expected to cross, and drivers must yield to people within them. You stop only when someone is crossing or a sign or signal requires it. Painted stripes mean feet ahead.
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