California practice test, weather, night, and vehicle control
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Driving when the road stops helping: the basic speed law under rain and fog, headlights on when you can't see clearly at 1,000 feet, and high beams dimmed within 500 feet of oncoming traffic and 300 feet of the car ahead. Equipment sits here too, wipers, mirrors, the 1/32 inch minimum tread, seat belts, and child restraints, children under 8 in the back seat. Short set, high yield: these are recognition questions with exact figures.
Each topic set draws up to 20 questions from that topic in the California bank and grades against our practice target of 80 percent. The target is our study goal, not the DMV's pass mark.
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Up to 20 questions from this topic, drawn fresh each run from 39 checked questions. Graded against our practice target of 80 percent, our study goal, not the state's pass mark. There's no signup and nothing to pay.
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Five sample questions, answers hidden until you tap
You are following another car at night. Within what distance must your high beams be dimmed?
✓ Correct answer: 300 feet
Following is the closer figure: dim within 300 feet of the vehicle ahead. The 500-foot figure is for traffic coming toward you. California Vehicle Code section 24409.
California Vehicle Code section 24409
Your left outside mirror is gone, and luggage blocks the inside mirror, leaving a view of about 60 feet behind. What is the legal position?
✓ Correct answer: The arrangement fails the section: the driver must be able to see the highway behind for at least 200 feet
Section 26709 sets the standard, and a vehicle loaded so its rear view is obstructed must have mirrors on both sides, each giving a view of the highway at least 200 feet to the rear. Sixty feet of view behind a loaded car, with the left mirror gone, does not meet it. California Vehicle Code section 26709.
California Vehicle Code section 26709
Signs on a mountain pass require chains. What must you do?
✓ Correct answer: Carry and use chains or snow tyres as the signs direct
Section 27459 ties the duty to the signs: no person shall operate a motor vehicle on a portion of a highway signed for the requirement of tire traction devices without those devices, and the Department of Transportation or local authorities may provide snow-tread tyres on at least two drive wheels as the alternative. California Vehicle Code section 27459.
California Vehicle Code section 27459
A child under 8 rides in a car. Where, and in what?
✓ Correct answer: In a child restraint system, in the back seat
Section 27360(a) puts the under-8 child in a child restraint, in the back seat: a parent, legal guardian, or driver transporting a child under eight years of age must properly secure that child in a rear seat in an appropriate child passenger restraint system meeting applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards. California Vehicle Code section 27360.
California Vehicle Code section 27360
When may a car's horn be used?
✓ Correct answer: Only to give a reasonable warning for safety
Section 27001 limits the horn to its one job: the driver, when reasonably necessary to insure safe operation, shall give audible warning with the horn, and the horn shall not otherwise be used, except as a theft alarm system. California Vehicle Code section 27001.
California Vehicle Code section 27001
Report a wrong answer. Reports are checked against the cited source within two working days, and a right report is fixed in the open, with the date on this page.
Facts strip
- Pass mark
- 80%, as the DMV publishes it
- Our simulators grade on
- Miss allowances: 30 of 36 (adult), 38 of 46 (under 18)
- Questions on the real test
- The DMV publishes no current count
- Time limit
- None published by the DMV
- Application fee
- $46, covers 3 attempts in 12 months
- Retest wait, under 18
- 7 days. No published wait for adults
Facts checked against California DMV pages, 2026-11-03. Official information: California Department of Motor Vehicles, dmv.ca.gov.
Corrections note
No corrections yet. Last checked 2026-11-03, against the California Vehicle Code and DMV published facts.