Free New York DMV practice test for your learner's permit — road signs, right-of-way and the rules of the road, with real New York knowledge-exam questions.
The New York knowledge test is one 20-question exam. You need 14 of 20 correct (70%) overall, and at least 2 of the 4 road-sign questions — miss that second requirement and you fail even with a passing overall score.
Questions and exam format researched against New York's official driver handbook and state sources. Last verified 22 August 2026.
Answer: Octagon
STOP signs are always the eight-sided octagon shape nationwide, including New York, so they're recognizable even from behind.
Road Signs
Answer: 55 mph
Absent a posted sign, New York's statewide default speed limit is 55 mph under VTL §1180-b.
Speed & Spacing
Answer: From half an hour after sunset to half an hour before sunrise, or whenever visibility drops below 1,000 feet, or wipers are on for rain/snow/sleet
New York law requires headlights half an hour after sunset to half an hour before sunrise, any time visibility drops below 1,000 feet, and whenever wipers are running for weather.
NY Laws
Answer: 16
The Junior Operator license requires a minimum age of 16.
Teen & Permit Rules
Answer: No codified exact-footage law exists — the manual only says to give room and reduce speed
Unlike some other states, New York has no codified exact-footage bicycle-passing law — the manual only instructs drivers to give room and reduce speed. A 3-foot bill has been proposed but not enacted.
Sharing the Road
Answer: School zone or school crossing
The pentagon shape is reserved for school-zone and school-crossing signs.
Road Signs
Answer: 25 mph
NYC's citywide default, confirmed by NYC DOT, is 25 mph unless otherwise posted — well below the statewide default.
Speed & Spacing
Answer: 500 feet
New York law requires dimming high beams within 500 feet of an oncoming vehicle.
NY Laws
Questions and exam format researched against New York's official driver handbook and state sources. Last verified 22 August 2026.
New York DMV Driver's Manual (dmv.ny.gov/new-york-state-drivers-manual-and-practice-tests/, Chapter 1 driver-licenses, Chapter 4 signals, Chapter 6 passing/no-passing, Chapter 8 speed limits), Vehicle and Traffic Law citations found in the manual (VTL §1180-b default speed, §1212 reckless driving, §1225-c/d handheld device, VTL Zero Tolerance/DWAI/DWI/Aggravated DWI provisions), DMV's driver-point-value schedule (updated effective February 16, 2026 — verify this table is still current before relying on it further), and the DMV Junior Driver License regional curfew pages — researched and verified 2026-08-18/19. Exam format: 20 questions, need 14 correct (70%) to pass, per dmv.ny.gov's Chapter 1 testing section; module uses `signCount: 0, ruleCount: 20, rulePassPct: 0.70`. SUB-GATE NOW MODELLED, 2026-08-22 (this note previously recorded it as a KNOWN SIMPLIFICATION): the real NY exam requires at least 2 of the 4 sign-recognition questions correct in addition to 14 of 20 overall, and the app used to check only the 70% — so a student who scored 14/20 while missing 3 of the 4 sign questions was told they passed when NY would have failed them. MockConfig gained a gradedAsOneTest flag for exactly this shape: NY is now signCount 4 / signPassCount 2 / ruleCount 16 / rulePassPct 0.7, where rulePassPct applies to the COMBINED 20 questions rather than the 16 rules alone. That distinction matters and is why a plain two-section split was not used: 4/4 signs with 10/16 rules is 14/20 and genuinely passes in New York, but section-style grading would have failed it on the rules percentage — trading a false pass for a false fail. Known gaps deliberately NOT invented: pedestrian WALK/DON'T WALK signal timing sequence (not found in the fetched manual text); exact adult seat-belt violation fine (only a distinct $50 charter-bus-specific fine for ages 8-15 was found, used narrowly in r111 rather than generalized); exact handheld-phone fine figures (secondary-sourced, not verbatim on a single dmv.ny.gov page); an apparent unresolved discrepancy between the Driver Responsibility Assessment's 18-month window and the newly-extended 24-month suspension look-back window (both are presented as currently stated, without forcing a resolution); precise truck/bus no-zone side/rear footage figures (only qualitative description plus one ~20-foot front figure was found); statewide curb-color meanings (New York's manual does not describe one — do not treat as existing); a citable current distracted-driving crash-percentage statistic (only a 2011-2016 ticket-increase figure was found and used instead); and a full NY-specific stopping-distance table (only one non-standardized illustrative example existed and was not used). Also note two deliberately negated facts used as trick-question material because they are explicitly confirmed absences, not gaps: New York has NO statewide 3-foot (or other exact-footage) bicycle-passing law, and NO statutory right-of-way for funeral processions, and NO divided-highway exception to the school bus stop law. Re-verify periodically, as DMV manuals, VTL sections, fees, and point thresholds change over time — the Feb 2026 point-system update in particular should be reconfirmed as it ages.
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