Missouri Permit Practice Test 1
This free Missouri practice test has 30 multiple-choice questions covering road signs, right-of-way, speed limits, and safe driving — the same topics the DOR tests. The real DOR Written test (part of the four-part Missouri driver examination, which also includes vision, road sign, and driving tests) has 25 questions, and you need 20 correct (80%) to pass.
Question 1 of 30
1. Besides nighttime, when should you turn on your headlights?
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Correct answer: D. Turn on your headlights whenever conditions cut visibility, including rain, fog, snow, dusk, or dawn, because lights help other drivers spot you as much as they help you see. Handy habit: wipers on or gray sky means lights on.
2. A traffic light turns steady yellow as you approach the intersection. What does this signal tell you?
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Correct answer: A. A steady yellow light warns that the signal is about to turn red. Stop if you can do it safely; if you are too close to stop smoothly, continue through with caution. Yellow means prepare, not race.
3. On a highway you pass a white regulatory sign reading MINIMUM SPEED 40. Why is that sign posted?
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Correct answer: D. A minimum speed sign requires you to travel at least the posted speed when conditions allow. Highways post it because vehicles moving far below the flow cause rear-end and lane-change crashes. Too slow can be as dangerous as too fast.
4. On a highway, you look for the way to your destination city. What kind of information do signs with a green background give you?
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Correct answer: D. Green guide signs point the way, listing destinations, how many miles remain, and which exits to take. They inform rather than command, so no action is required. Think of green as the color that says go this way.
5. On a dark road you see several black-and-yellow signs, each with a single sideways V pointing to the right, spaced along the roadside. What do they mark?
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Correct answer: B. Chevron alignment signs outline a sharp curve, each arrowhead pointing the direction the road bends. They are placed in a series so your headlights pick up the curve's shape at night. Follow the chevrons like breadcrumbs through the turn.
6. Under normal conditions, what is the slowest you may legally drive on a Missouri interstate highway?
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Correct answer: D. Missouri sets a 40 mph minimum on interstate highways in normal conditions because vehicles crawling far below traffic speed trigger sudden braking and rear-end crashes. If 40 mph feels too fast for your vehicle or trip, choose another route.
7. 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.
8. Your rear wheels begin sliding sideways on a slippery road. How do you regain control?
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Correct answer: A. In a skid, ease off both pedals and look and steer where you want the front of the car to go, correcting gently as it straightens. Sudden braking or gas makes sliding worse. Eyes up, feet off, steer.
9. In Missouri, supervised behind-the-wheel practice with a permit can begin once a teen reaches which age?
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Correct answer: C. Supervised practice starts at 15 in Missouri, once the teen holds a learner's permit. Every practice hour with a licensed adult builds judgment that classroom study alone can never teach, which is why the permit stage exists.
10. An ambulance approaches with siren and flashing lights while you are inside a Missouri intersection. What should you do?
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Correct answer: A. Missouri law says clear the intersection first, then pull as far right as possible and stop until the emergency vehicle passes. Stopping inside an intersection blocks its path. Hook: clear the box, then hug the curb.
11. Smoke and flames start coming from under your hood while you drive. What should you do?
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Correct answer: C. Stop away from buildings and fuel, shut off the engine, and move everyone well back. Opening the hood feeds the flames air, and burning vehicles can explode, so fight nothing bigger than a tiny fire. Distance saves lives.
12. 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.
13. You hit a stretch of heavy rain and patchy fog on the highway. How should you adjust your speed?
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Correct answer: B. In rain or fog, reduce speed until you could stop within the distance you can actually see, since wet pavement stretches stopping distance and fog hides hazards. Drive by sight distance: if you cannot see it, slow for it.
14. Under zero-tolerance laws, what happens to a driver under 21 caught with any measurable alcohol in their system?
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Correct answer: A. Every state enforces zero tolerance: drivers under 21 face penalties, typically license loss, for any measurable amount of alcohol. Because underage drinking is illegal, no level is acceptable. For young drivers, the only safe number is zero.
15. Under Missouri's uniform speed limits, what is the maximum speed on rural expressways unless otherwise posted?
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Correct answer: B. Missouri's uniform limits set rural expressways at 65 mph, five below the rural interstate figure, because expressways still have crossroads and driveways that full interstates lack. Memory hook: fewer ramps, five slower.
16. In Missouri, a driver who is 21 or older breaks the law by driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at or above what level?
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Correct answer: A. Missouri law makes it illegal to drive with a BAC of 0.08% or higher. Alcohol slows judgment and reaction time, and impairment can begin well below that number. Treat 0.08% as a legal line, never a safe target.
17. After drinking, what is the only thing that will actually sober you up?
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Correct answer: C. Only time makes you sober, because your liver removes alcohol at its own steady pace. Coffee, cold showers, and exercise just create a wide-awake drunk. Memory hook: you cannot rush the liver; you can only wait it out.
18. You are pulling out of a driveway onto a public street. What must you do?
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Correct answer: D. A driver entering a road from a driveway, alley, or private road must yield to sidewalk pedestrians and to all traffic already on the roadway. Public-road users cannot predict your exit, so the burden is on the driver emerging.
19. If you refuse a chemical test of your breath, blood, or urine after a traffic stop in Missouri, what happens to your license?
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Correct answer: C. Missouri law takes your license for one year if you refuse an officer's chemical test of your blood alcohol content. The penalty applies just for refusing, separate from any DWI charge. Remember: refusal alone costs twelve months.
20. In Missouri, state law sets a default limit for residential districts that applies wherever no speed limit sign is posted. That default is which of the following?
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Correct answer: B. Missouri law fixes the unposted residential default at 25 mph. Lawmakers keep it low because residential streets are full of crossings, parked cars, and pedestrians. Remember: no sign means the default applies, and posted signs override it.
21. You turn off a busy road into a quiet subdivision in Missouri 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 Missouri, 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.
22. Traffic around you on a Missouri highway posted at the state maximum starts flowing faster than the signs allow. Your personal legal limit remains which speed?
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Correct answer: C. Other drivers speeding never raises your limit; on Missouri's fastest highways it stays 70 mph. Move right and let them pass instead of matching them. Speed limits bind each driver individually, whatever the surrounding traffic does.
23. Signs on Missouri highways vary from road to road, but the law sets one absolute top limit for the fastest routes. That limit is which value?
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Correct answer: D. By statute, 70 mph is the fastest any Missouri road can be posted. Below that ceiling, engineers set each road's limit for its design and traffic, which is why the posted sign on your road always governs.
24. Which parking spot is illegal no matter how briefly you plan to stay?
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Correct answer: D. Parking within the cleared space around a fire hydrant is always illegal, because firefighters may need instant access to connect hoses. Blocking a hydrant can cost lives during a fire. If you see a hydrant, leave the whole area open.
25. 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?
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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.
26. An orange sign with a black arrow reads DETOUR. What is this sign telling you?
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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.
27. Your 20-year-old cousin is the designated driver tonight in Missouri. To obey the zero-tolerance law, they must keep their BAC below what threshold?
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Correct answer: A. In Missouri, 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.
28. An ice-cream truck is stopped ahead and children are gathered around it. How should you drive past?
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Correct answer: C. Slow way down and cover your brake near children or a stopped ice-cream truck, because kids chase treats and forget traffic completely. Expect someone small to dart out. Around children, drive as if one already has.
29. In Missouri, what is the youngest age at which you can apply for a learner's permit?
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Correct answer: B. Missouri 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.
30. 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.
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