Free Texas DMV Car / Permit Practice Test 2026
The Texas Car / Permit knowledge test has 30 questions, and you need 21 correct (70%) to pass. Practice free with questions written from the official Texas driver handbook — every one has a clear explanation, and you can retake as often as you like with no sign-up.
Content reviewed against official driver handbooks · August 12, 2026
What's on the Texas written test
The Texas Car / Permit knowledge test has 30 questions; you need 21 correct (70%) to pass.
Based on the official Texas exam format — always confirm current details with your state DMV.
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Texas Practice Test Pack — 2026 Printable Edition
All 473 Texas practice questions with worked explanations and answer keys — car, motorcycle, CDL and air brakes, in English and Spanish. Eight print-ready PDFs, 651 pages; the car and CDL editions add 146 cut-out road-sign flashcards.
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Practice by topic
Focus on one area at a time — each topic has its own set of Texas practice questions.
Learn the shapes, colors, and meanings of regulatory, warning, and guide signs — from stop and yield to construction and school-zone signs.
Speed limits, turning and signaling rules, headlight and seat-belt requirements, and the everyday laws every driver must follow.
How to read traffic signals, lane lines, and pavement markings — including yellow and white lines, arrows, and flashing lights.
Who goes first at intersections, four-way stops, roundabouts, and crosswalks, and how to yield to pedestrians and emergency vehicles.
Following distance, scanning, blind spots, using your lights, and the habits that prevent crashes and keep you in control.
Driving safely around motorcycles, bicycles, large trucks, pedestrians, and school buses — and knowing who has the right of way.
Blood alcohol limits, zero-tolerance and implied-consent laws, and how alcohol and drugs — legal or not — affect your driving.
Legal and illegal parking, colored curbs, distances from hydrants and crossings, and how to park safely on hills.
Choosing a safe speed, keeping a space cushion, adjusting for weather and traffic, and understanding stopping distance.
What to do when things go wrong — brake failure, tire blowouts, skids, and stalling on railroad tracks.
The point system, license suspension, provisional-license rules, insurance requirements, and other licensing basics.
How to pass the first time
- Read the official Texas driver handbook at least once before test day.
- Practice by topic to find your weak spots, then fix them.
- Take full-length practice tests until you pass comfortably every time.
- Read every explanation — understanding beats memorizing.
Texas Car / Permit test — frequently asked questions
How many questions are on the Texas Car / Permit test?
The Texas Car / Permit knowledge test has 30 questions, and you need 21 correct (70%) to pass. Our practice tests mirror that format.
How many questions can I miss on the Texas Car / Permit test?
You can miss up to 9 of the 30 questions and still pass — you need 21 correct, which is 70%.
Can I retake the practice test?
Yes — practice as often as you like, completely free. The questions and answer choices are shuffled each time.
Can I take the Texas practice test in Spanish?
Yes. Every question here is available in English and Spanish — switch languages anytime. Many states also offer the real knowledge test in languages other than English; confirm what Texas offers with your DMV.
Can I practice on my phone?
Yes. The practice tests work in any mobile or desktop browser — no app or sign-up needed — so you can study anywhere.
Are these the real DMV test questions?
No. Our questions are original, written from the current official Texas driver handbook to match the real test's topics and style. We are not affiliated with any DMV or government agency.
What's the best way to study?
Read the Texas driver handbook, practice by topic to target weak areas, and finish with full-length tests until you consistently pass.
Other Texas practice tests
Take the Car / Permit test in another state
Every Texas question is written from the official Texas driver handbook and checked against its current edition. DMV Test Free is a free, independent study resource — not affiliated with any DMV or government agency. About DMV Test Free
Texas Car / Permit questions with answers
20 sample questions from the Texas Car / Permit question bank — each with the correct answer, a short explanation, and the section of the official handbook it comes from.
Show all 20 questions with answers
1. You are about to pass on a two-lane road. How much room from oncoming traffic should you plan for?
Correct answer: Enough to finish the pass and be back in your own lane while an approaching car is still 200 feet or more away
Before passing on a two-lane road, look far ahead for no-passing zones and check for oncoming traffic in the left lane. You need enough time and space to overtake and move back into the right lane before an approaching car gets within 200 feet. Flashing your lights or staying beside the other car does not make a pass safe.
Source: Texas Driver Handbook — Passing
2. When you park on the approach to a stop sign, yield sign, or flashing signal placed at the side of the road, how far back must you stay?
Correct answer: 30 feet
You may not park, stand or idle within 30 feet upon the approach to a flashing signal, stop sign, yield sign or similar signal at the side of a road. Keeping this stretch clear lets approaching drivers see the control in time to obey it. Ten or fifty feet is not the distance the list sets.
Source: Texas Driver Handbook — Parking
3. How often must an adult Texas driver license normally be renewed?
Correct answer: Every 8 years
Most non-commercial driver licenses issued to persons 18 and older are valid for eight years. Some applicants get shorter terms because of restrictions, such as verifying lawful presence. So the normal answer is eight years, not four, six or ten. Check your own license for its expiration date.
4. A sign with a brown background is used to guide you to:
Correct answer: parks, campgrounds, and other recreational or scenic areas
Brown is used for public recreation and scenic guidance, so a brown sign leads you to places like parks and scenic areas. Motorist services such as fuel and food are blue. A school crossing is marked by a pentagon-shaped sign. Brown does not mean a toll booth or any other warning.
5. Your right tires drift off the pavement onto a lower shoulder. The best response is to:
Correct answer: ease off the gas, keep control, and steer back gently when it is safe
If you run off the pavement, don't hit the brakes suddenly and hard. Grip the wheel tightly and lift your foot off the gas. Brake carefully and don't swing back onto the road. Wait until your speed has dropped, check traffic behind you, and then drive back onto the pavement carefully.
6. A large truck ahead of you has its right-turn signal on but first swings wide to the left. You should:
Correct answer: stay back and never try to pass on the right side of the truck
Trucks make wide right turns, and sometimes the driver leaves an open space on the right just before turning. Do not pass a truck on the right if there is any chance it will turn right. Watch for its turn signals, and stay back until you are sure what the driver intends to do.
Source: Texas Driver Handbook — Sharing the Road with Trucks
7. Texas law requires you to turn your headlights on:
Correct answer: from a half hour after sunset until a half hour before sunrise, and whenever visibility is poor
Texas requires headlights from 30 minutes after sunset until 30 minutes before sunrise, and any time people or vehicles cannot be seen clearly at 1,000 feet or less, such as in fog or heavy rain. So waiting until it is fully dark, or using them only in rain, is too late. Switch to low beams within 500 feet of an approaching vehicle.
8. A traffic signal showing a flashing red light means you should:
Correct answer: stop, then proceed when it is safe, just as you would at a stop sign
A flashing red light means stop completely before the crosswalk or intersection, then go when you can do so safely, much like a stop sign. Slowing down is not enough. The intersecting road's traffic may not have to stop, so check carefully before you move, and never treat the signal as if it were out of order.
9. When you pull out from a private driveway or alley onto a street, you must:
Correct answer: yield to traffic on the street and to pedestrians on the sidewalk
When you leave a private road, alley, building or driveway to enter a street, you must stop before reaching the sidewalk and give way to all approaching vehicles and pedestrians. Don't count on cars slowing down to let you in, and honking gives you no priority. Wait until the street and sidewalk are clear, then pull out.
10. In a Texas school zone, using a handheld cell phone to talk while driving is:
Correct answer: prohibited, because Texas bans wireless device use in a school zone
Texas treats a school zone as a place where the use of a wireless communication device is prohibited, as one of the signs in the handbook says. So a handheld call is not allowed there. Keeping one hand on the wheel or staying under the speed limit makes no difference, and the ban is not limited to text messages.
11. In Texas, an adult 21 or older is legally intoxicated to drive at a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of:
Correct answer: 0.08 or higher
Texas treats an adult 21 or older as legally intoxicated at a BAC of 0.08 or more. The legal limit can also be reached with any amount that causes loss of the normal use of your mental or physical faculties, so you can be charged below 0.08. The lower numbers in the other choices are not the adult threshold.
12. What happens to the width of what a driver takes in as speed climbs from a standstill to 60 mph?
Correct answer: It narrows to roughly a fifth of what you take in standing still
Speed reduces your field of vision. When you are stationary, your field is 180 degrees or more. It shrinks to about two-thirds at 20 mph, about two-fifths at 40 mph, and about one-fifth at 60 mph. So at highway speed you take in a much narrower view, and hazards off to the side are easier to miss.
13. Texas law prohibits parking within how many feet of a crosswalk at an intersection?
Correct answer: 20 feet
Texas prohibits parking, standing or idling within 20 feet of a crosswalk at an intersection. The same list sets other distances: 15 feet from a fire hydrant, and 30 feet from a flashing signal, stop sign, yield sign or similar signal beside the road. Five or fifty feet is not the crosswalk distance, so measure 20 feet.
Source: Texas Driver Handbook — Parking
14. Texas requires drivers to carry at least the minimum liability insurance, commonly stated as 30/60/25. The '25' stands for:
Correct answer: $25,000 of coverage for others' property damage per crash
Texas sets the minimum liability coverage at $30,000 for injury or death of one person, $60,000 for injury or death of two or more people, and $25,000 for property damage. So the last number in 30/60/25 is the $25,000 for damage to others' property. It is not a fee, a time period, or the amount for one person's injuries.
15. While driving you see a round yellow sign with a black 'X' and two 'R' letters. What does it indicate?
Correct answer: A railroad crossing is ahead; slow down and be ready to stop for trains.
Round signs are used for advance warning of railroad crossings. Slow down, look and listen for a train, and be ready to give way to one. Never stop on the tracks. The sign does not warn of a lane ending, two-way traffic or a sharp turn, which are shown with different shapes and symbols.
16. If your brakes suddenly fail, one recommended action is to:
Correct answer: apply the parking brake carefully and shift to a lower gear
If your brakes fail, do not panic: use the parking brake and shift to a lower gear. Apply the parking brake cautiously, because doing it abruptly can lock the brakes and throw the car into a skid. The handbook does not recommend turning off the engine, steering into oncoming traffic, or any other drastic step to stop.
17. When driving near a motorcycle, you should remember that the motorcycle:
Correct answer: is entitled to a full lane, so you should not crowd or share its lane
A motorcycle has the right to a whole lane and may need all of it to maneuver safely, so you should give the rider a whole lane width. Even if there seems to be enough room for a car and motorcycle together, do not try to share the lane. Motorcycles are small, so check carefully before turning or changing lanes.
18. An officer pulls you over after dark. Besides stopping well to the right, what should you do?
Correct answer: Switch on the dome light and rest both hands where they can be seen
If an officer stops you, park as far right as you can, set the brake, turn off the engine and put on your hazard lights. At night, turn on the dome light. Stay in the car and keep both hands in clear sight on top of the steering wheel. Do not get out unless asked, and tell the officer where your documents are before reaching.
Source: Texas Driver Handbook — When Stopped by Law Enforcement
19. A green arrow shown at a traffic signal means you may:
Correct answer: turn in the direction of the arrow, yielding to pedestrians already crossing
A green arrow shown together with a red light means you may proceed carefully in the direction of the arrow, after you yield the right-of-way to other vehicles and pedestrians. You do not need to wait for a plain green light, and the arrow lets you turn only the way it points, not drive straight on.
20. You have a green light (no arrow) and want to turn left across oncoming traffic. You must:
Correct answer: yield to oncoming vehicles and pedestrians, then turn when it is safe
A green light lets you go, but when you turn left on a plain green you have to give way to every vehicle coming toward you from the opposite direction before you turn. Watch for pedestrians too. Cars racing through to beat a red light are a danger. Turning on a green arrow, by contrast, protects you from oncoming traffic.