New Jersey permit practice test/Free questions
New Jersey MVC knowledge test · 20 free questions
Free New Jersey MVC Permit practice questions
Every free question with its answer, the reason and where it comes from in the New Jersey Driver Manual. Tap an answer to check yourself, or print the page.
- Pass mark
- 80%
- Questions on the test
- 50
- Correct to pass
- 40
- Free here
- 20
Road signs questions4
- 01Road signs
An octagonal red sign always means what?
Answer: C, Stop. A red octagon is used only for STOP, so you must come to a full stop at the line, crosswalk or edge of the intersection. School zones are marked with a five-sided pentagon. Yield signs are triangles pointing down. Passing bans appear on a white rectangular DO NOT PASS sign or a yellow pennant on the left side of the road.
Source: NJ Driver Manual — Signs — Regulatory signs
- 02Road signs
A sign shaped like an inverted triangle (point down) tells you to:
Answer: B, Yield the right-of-way. A triangle pointing down is the yield sign: slow, give the right-of-way to traffic and pedestrians, and stop only if needed. A mandatory full stop belongs to the octagon. Merge warnings are yellow diamonds with a joining arrow, not triangles. Barring entry is the job of the DO NOT ENTER sign, a red circle with a white bar.
Source: NJ Driver Manual — Signs — Regulatory signs
- 03Road signs
What does a yellow diamond with a black curving arrow warn about?
Answer: B, Curve ahead. A black curved arrow on a yellow diamond warns that the road curves ahead in the direction shown, so slow before entering the bend. The end of a detour is marked with an orange construction sign. No U-turn is a white regulatory sign with a red circle and slash. Permission to park comes from white or green rectangular parking signs, never a yellow diamond.
Source: NJ Driver Manual — Signs — Warning signs
- 04Road signs
A red circle with a white horizontal bar (DO NOT ENTER style) means:
Answer: D, No vehicles may enter this way. A red circle with a white horizontal bar is DO NOT ENTER, which bars vehicles from going that way, typically into a one-way street or exit ramp. It gives no permission to continue after yielding. Hospitals are marked by blue signs with a white H. A dead end is shown on a yellow warning sign, and nothing about DO NOT ENTER is optional.
Source: NJ Driver Manual — Signs — Regulatory signs
New Jersey MVC Permit alcohol and drug questions2
- 05Alcohol and drugs
In New Jersey, drivers under 21 are considered under the influence (DUI) at BAC of:
Answer: C, 0.01. New Jersey treats a driver under 21 as under the influence at a BAC of 0.01%, which amounts to zero tolerance for any measurable alcohol. 0.08% is the per se limit for drivers 21 and older; an underage driver at that level faces the regular DWI penalties. Neither 0.10% nor 0.05% is a New Jersey threshold for underage drivers, and both would permit drinking that the law forbids.
Source: NJ Driver Manual — Alcohol and Drugs — Under-21 DUI
- 06Alcohol and drugs
For New Jersey drivers 21 and older, the per se DUI blood alcohol limit is:
Answer: B, 0.08%. Drivers 21 and older are per se guilty of DWI in New Jersey at a BAC of 0.08% or higher, with no further proof of impairment needed. 0.02% is not a New Jersey limit; the under-21 threshold is 0.01%. New Jersey lowered its limit from 0.10% to 0.08% in 2004. 0.05% is not the state's standard, although impairment can still be charged below 0.08%.
Source: NJ Driver Manual — Alcohol and Drugs — DUI law
Intersections and turns questions2
- 07Intersections and turns
At an all-way stop, if two vehicles arrive at the same time, who goes first?
Answer: B, The driver on the right. When two drivers reach an all-way stop together, the driver on the left yields to the driver on the right. Honking gives no one priority and only startles other road users. Seeing the other car first does not entitle the left-hand driver to go ahead. Vehicle size has no bearing on right-of-way; a bus or truck follows the same rule as a car.
Source: NJ Driver Manual — Intersections — All-way stops
- 08Intersections and turns
Before turning left at a green light, you should:
Answer: A, Yield to oncoming traffic and pedestrians, then turn when safe. A green light lets you turn left, but you must still yield to oncoming vehicles and pedestrians and wait for a safe gap. Speeding up to beat oncoming cars is a classic cause of left-turn crashes. Hugging the center line and turning at once ignores whoever has the right-of-way. A left turn is made from the left lane or a left-turn lane, never from the right lane.
Source: NJ Driver Manual — Turning — Left turns
Licensing (GDL) questions2
- 09Licensing (GDL)
To take the New Jersey knowledge test you must first present 6 Points of ID and:
Answer: C, Purchase an examination permit. Before the knowledge test you buy an examination permit at a licensing center, presenting 6 Points of ID to get it. The ID alone does not admit you to the test without that permit. You do not need to own a car or show a registration card to test. There is no 21-year minimum: at 16 a permit comes through a driving school, and at 17 a regular examination permit is available.
Source: NJ Driver Manual — Licensing — Examination permit
- 10Licensing (GDL)
With a valid New Jersey special learner's permit, practice driving is allowed:
Answer: A, Between 5 a.m. and 11 p.m.. A special learner's permit allows practice driving between 5 a.m. and 11 p.m. The stretch from midnight to 5 a.m. falls inside the overnight hours learners may not drive. Saying anytime ignores that curfew entirely. Nothing limits practice to Sundays; any day of the week is allowed within the permitted hours.
Source: NJ Driver Manual — Licensing — Special learner's permit
Parking questions2
- 11Parking
When parking downhill next to a curb, you should turn your front wheels:
Answer: B, Toward the curb. Downhill against a curb, turn the front wheels toward the curb so that if the car rolls, the tire meets the curb instead of traffic. Straight wheels let a rolling car run on down the hill. Turning away from the curb is the uphill-with-curb method and would steer a downhill roll into the street. Pointing the wheels toward the center of the road aims the car at moving traffic.
Source: NJ Driver Manual — Parking — Hills
- 12Parking
Before opening your door into traffic after parking, you must:
Answer: D, Check mirrors and blind spot for cyclists and vehicles. Before opening a door on the traffic side, check your mirrors and look over your shoulder for cyclists and vehicles. A mirror check alone misses riders in the blind spot, and cyclists cannot count on hearing a door unlatch. Moving traffic does not have to yield to a door swinging into its path. Using the passenger door is fine, but it does not remove the duty to check for traffic on that side.
Source: NJ Driver Manual — Parking — Entering and exiting
Passing a school bus questions2
- 13Passing a school bus
Before passing on a two-lane road, you must be sure:
Answer: C, The way is clear, the zone allows it, and you can return safely. A pass is legal only when the road ahead is clear, the zone permits passing, and there is room to get back into your lane before meeting oncoming traffic. Being faster and seeing a briefly empty lane ignores sight distance and markings. A working horn is not a passing requirement. Signaling is required before you pull out and before you return, so calling it optional makes the last choice wrong.
Source: NJ Driver Manual — Passing — How to pass
- 14Passing a school bus
When being passed by another vehicle, you should:
Answer: B, Hold steady or slow slightly and stay right. When someone passes you, keep a steady speed or slow slightly and stay to the right of your lane. Braking hard can cause a rear-end crash or confuse the passing driver. Speeding up traps the passer beside you, possibly facing oncoming traffic. Swerving left steers into the very vehicle that is overtaking you.
Source: NJ Driver Manual — Passing — Being passed
Sharing the road questions2
- 15Sharing the road
If you drive behind a school bus showing flashing red lights, you must stop a minimum of:
Answer: A, 25 feet away. New Jersey requires you to stop at least 25 feet from a school bus displaying flashing red lights and stay stopped until they go off. Ten feet puts you too close to children crossing near the bumper. Waiting at 50 or 100 feet is allowed, but neither is the minimum the law sets. On a dual highway with a safety island, opposing traffic may pass at no more than 10 mph.
Source: NJ Driver Manual — Sharing the Road — School buses
- 16Sharing the road
When passing a cyclist with no bike lane, you should:
Answer: D, Wait until you can leave safe clearance, then pass wide. With no bike lane, wait until you can pass with safe clearance, then move well over. New Jersey's Safe Passing Law calls for changing lanes when possible or otherwise leaving at least 4 feet. Honking can startle a rider, and cyclists may use the lane rather than being confined to the shoulder. Tailgating a cyclist until they pull off is unsafe and gives no right to squeeze by. Passing on the right is wrong because bicycles have lane rights.
Source: NJ Driver Manual — Sharing the Road — Bicycles
Traffic signals and markings questions2
- 17Traffic signals and markings
A steady yellow traffic light means:
Answer: D, The signal is about to turn red — stop if you can do so safely. A steady yellow means the light is about to turn red: stop if you can do it safely, and continue only if you are too close to stop. It does not order every direction to halt and wait for an officer. Pedestrians are not told to run; they should not start crossing on yellow. Yellow follows green and comes before red, so accelerating because green is coming has the sequence backward.
Source: NJ Driver Manual — Traffic Signals — Signal meanings
- 18Traffic signals and markings
A yellow pennant-shaped NO PASSING ZONE sign on the left roadside means:
Answer: B, The zone ahead prohibits passing. This sign tells you passing is prohibited ahead, so do not start to pass; the zone usually matches a solid yellow line on your side of the center. It means the opposite of passing being legal, and you must wait for a broken line on your side before overtaking. A school crossing is marked with a five-sided sign, not a pennant. Parking rules come from rectangular regulatory signs.
Source: NJ Driver Manual — Signs — No-passing zones
Special conditions questions1
- 19Special conditions
When you see a flagger paddle showing SLOW/STOP in a work zone, you must:
Answer: A, Obey the flagger's directions exactly. In a work zone a flagger's paddle carries the same force as a signal, so you stop or proceed exactly as shown. The paddle does not mean the lane is permanently closed; the SLOW side tells you to move ahead with care. Speeding past before the paddle turns can put you into traffic released from the other end. Honking pressures a worker standing unprotected in the lane and changes nothing.
Source: NJ Driver Manual — Special Conditions — Work zones
Speed and space questions1
- 20Speed and space
Unless otherwise posted, the speed limit in New Jersey school, business, and residential districts is:
Answer: C, 25 mph. Unless a sign says otherwise, New Jersey's limit in school, business and residential districts is 25 mph. 35 mph is the default for suburban business and residential districts, not the denser districts named in the question. 50 mph applies to unposted rural roads. 15 mph is lower than any statewide default, although a local sign may post it at a specific spot.
Source: NJ Driver Manual — Speed Limits — District limits
Before the New Jersey knowledge test
- 50 knowledge test questions plus one survey question about organ donation
- 50 + 1 Chapter 1 — Knowledge Test
- At least one primary and one secondary document, plus proof of a New Jersey residential address
- 6 points of ID Chapter 1 — Identity Verification
- A vision screening is required for every applicant
- Vision test Chapter 1 — Vision Test
- Knowledge test offered in English, American Sign Language and 12 other languages
- 14 formats Chapter 1 — Knowledge Test
- Notice the MVC needs to arrange a state-approved interpreter
- 2 weeks Chapter 1 — Knowledge Test
From the New Jersey Driver Manual (Rev. 4/2026).