Virginia DMV Permit Practice Test

The Virginia DMV knowledge test is your gateway to a learner's permit. The exam is split into two mandatory parts — road signs and general knowledge — and you must pass each part independently.

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  Knowledge test (40 questions, two parts)Part 1: 10 road sign questions — all 10 must be answered correctly. Part 2: 30 general knowledge questions — you need 24 correct (80%). This is one exam for all ages.
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  Application fee$3 learner's permit fee, plus the yearly cost of a driver's license (see DMV's fee chart). Bring government-issued ID, proof of Virginia residency, and your Social Security number.
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  Driver education required (under 18)Virginia residents under 18 must complete an approved driver education program before they can obtain a driver's license. This is not optional — skipping it means you can't upgrade from permit to license.
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  Why the signs section is a trapSign scores are not averaged with the rest of the test — a single wrong sign answer out of 10 fails Part 1 and ends the exam. Study signs more than anything else.
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  Bring with youProof of legal presence (passport, birth certificate, or permanent resident card), Virginia residency documentation (two documents), and your Social Security number or proof of ineligibility.
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  Retaking the testCheck Virginia DMV's current retake rules before your visit. Arriving unprepared can cost you more than the $3 fee — it can cost you a trip and a wait for a new appointment.

Traffic laws, safety, and road signs are all worth careful study — and the road signs part is pass/fail on its own. Know these topics cold before you sit down.

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  Road signs — the pass/fail sectionSign shapes, colors, and meanings: stop (red octagon), yield (red-and-white triangle), warning (yellow diamond), work zone (orange diamond), school zone (yellow-green pentagon). Practice by looking at real sign images, not just reading descriptions.
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  Right-of-way and turning rulesAt a four-way stop, the first vehicle to arrive goes first. Tied? Yield to the driver on your right. When turning left, always yield to oncoming traffic AND pedestrians already in the intersection.
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  Signal distance: 100 feetIn Virginia, signal at least 100 feet before any turn — about three to four seconds — and signal before every lane change. Signal before the maneuver, not during it.
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  Railroad crossings — stop when requiredYou must stop at a railroad crossing when directed by a flagger or stop sign, when flashing red lights and gates are activated, or when a train is visible or dangerously close. Never drive around a lowered gate.
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  Following distance: 2 seconds (under 35 mph), 4 seconds (over 45 mph)At speeds under 35 mph, maintain at least a 2-second gap to the vehicle ahead. At speeds over 45 mph, extend to 4 seconds. Double or triple the gap in rain, fog, or heavy traffic.
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  BAC limit — adults (21+): 0.08%A driver aged 21 or older is legally intoxicated with a BAC of 0.08% or higher. Impaired driving can still lead to a DUI conviction when your BAC is below 0.08%, because the legal limit is not a safety threshold.
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  Under-21 BAC — zero tolerance at 0.02%Virginia's zero tolerance law makes it illegal for anyone under 21 to drive with a BAC of 0.02% or higher. This is functionally 'no drinking and driving at all' — a single drink can push past 0.02%.
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  Alcohol is never safe in any amount before drivingAlcohol is a depressant that degrades judgment, vision, reaction time, and concentration. The only way to reduce your BAC is to wait — coffee, exercise, and cold showers do not change it.
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  Chemical test refusal = license suspensionRefusing a blood or breath test when charged with DUI is a standalone offense — it can result in license suspension or revocation independent of any DUI conviction.
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  Speed limits — residential, school, and business zones: 25 mphUnless a sign says otherwise, the speed limit in residential, school, and business districts is 25 mph for passenger vehicles. This single number covers three zone types.

These are rules worth extra attention for the Virginia test. Traffic laws and safety make up a large part of the manual — if you're weak on either, reaching the 80% pass mark on the general knowledge part will be hard.

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  Three-car right-of-way at four-way stopsThe basic rule is 'yield to the driver on the right.' The tricky case is when three cars arrive simultaneously — the rule still applies pairwise, one yield at a time. Treat each conflict as a separate yield decision, always yielding to the car on your immediate right.
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  School bus rules — stop from both directionsA school bus showing flashing red lights and an extended stop arm means traffic from both directions must stop, unless the road is divided by a median or barrier. Do not drive on until the bus starts moving again and every child has cleared the roadway.
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  Hill parking — downhill (or no curb): turn wheels toward the road edgeWhen parking downhill on a two-way street, turn your front wheels to the right (toward the curb or road edge). If the brake fails, the car rolls into the curb — not into traffic.
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  Hill parking — uphill with a curb: turn wheels away from the curbParked facing uphill, your front wheels should be angled sharply away from the curb, so that if the car rolls backward the wheel catches the curb and stops it. This is the reverse of the downhill rule, and the two are easy to confuse.
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  Impairment vs. legal BAC limit — they're not the sameVirginia's 0.08% threshold is the legal presumption of intoxication, not a permission slip to drink just below it. You can be convicted of DUI at any BAC if a prosecutor can show your driving was impaired.
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  Read every option before you answerIf a question offers 'All of the above', check that every listed option is genuinely true before choosing it. Choosing A when D is 'All of the above' is an easy mistake to make.
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  Passing a bicyclist — give 3 feet minimumWhen passing a bicycle, slow down and pass at least 3 feet to the left of the cyclist. If your lane is too narrow to leave 3 feet, change lanes to pass. Honking at a cyclist to make them move is wrong — it can startle them into a crash.

Reading the handbook once may not be enough. A simple plan is three loops: read once, drill once, listen once. The signs section requires special treatment — you have to pass it perfectly, so treat it as a separate study task.

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  Loop 1 — read the Virginia Driver's ManualDownload the Virginia Driver's Manual (Form DMV 39) free from dmv.virginia.gov. Read it once without trying to memorize. This guide pulls the key points into bullets — but the manual is the authoritative source.
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  Loop 2 — drill the practice examsTake the free 40-question exam below cold. Anything under 32/40 means you should focus on the categories you missed and retake. Read every option before answering.
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  Loop 2b — drill the road signs separatelyBecause signs are a standalone pass/fail section (all 10 must be correct), treat them as a separate study target. Practice from sign images, not text descriptions — you need to recognize a sign by how it looks, not by its name.
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  Loop 3 — listen along on YouTubePlay our Virginia Cheat Sheet video the night before your test. Hearing the key facts out loud can help them stick, especially numbers like 100 feet, 0.08%, and 25 mph.
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  Sleep beats crammingMemory consolidates during sleep. A full night's rest before the exam is worth more than two additional hours of late-night reading — especially for retaining sign shapes and regulatory numbers.
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  Study signs visually, not as textNever learn sign descriptions by reading them as sentences. Look at the actual sign image and its shape. Yellow diamond means warning. Red octagon means stop. Orange diamond means work zone.

Passing the Virginia knowledge test gives you a learner's permit — not a license. Virginia's graduated driver licensing (GDL) rules are set by statute (VA Code §46.2-334.01) and don't bend early no matter how well you drive.

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  Permit supervision ruleA licensed driver age 21 or older must ride in the front passenger seat at all times. Exception: a parent, legal guardian (any licensed age), or a sibling who is at least 18 and holds a valid license may also supervise. The supervisor must be alert and able to take control.
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  Permit hold time — 9 months (under 18), 60 days (21+)If you're under 18, you must hold the permit for at least 9 months before you can get your driver's license. If you're 21 or older, you must either hold the permit for at least 60 days or complete a state-approved driver education program. Starting January 1, 2027, first-time applicants ages 18 through 20 must hold the permit for at least 90 days and complete driver education; until then, applicants 18 and older may choose either the 60-day hold or driver education. None of these holding periods can be shortened by extra practice hours.
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  Supervised driving hours (under 18): 45 total, 15 at nightBefore upgrading to a provisional license, you must log at least 45 total supervised driving hours — with a minimum of 15 of those hours occurring after sunset. A parent or guardian must certify the hours.
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  Night curfew — midnight to 4:00 AM (under 18)Provisional license holders under 18 may not drive between midnight and 4:00 AM. Exceptions exist for work, adult-supervised school, civic, religious, or public-organization activities, emergencies, or when a licensed parent, guardian, or spouse who is 18 or older is in the front passenger seat.
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  Passenger limits under 18Until you turn 18, you may carry only one passenger under 21 (family or household members do not count). After you have held the license for one year, you may carry up to three passengers under 21, but only when driving to or from a school-sponsored activity, when a licensed driver 21 or older is in the front passenger seat, or in an emergency.
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  When restrictions lift — your 18th birthday, full stopAll provisional license restrictions — the midnight curfew AND the passenger limit — expire on the holder's 18th birthday, per VA Code §46.2-334.01. There is no early expiration based on months held; the calendar date is what triggers the lift.