In Mississippi, the permit test comes from the Driver Service Bureau, not a DMV. Get ready with 40 free questions on road signs, school bus stops, speed limits, DUI laws and teen rules, each explained instantly.
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Four rounds of 10 questions on Mississippi road signs, right-of-way, speed limits, parking, DUI and texting laws, and teen rules. Each answer comes with a short explanation.
You’re waiting to turn left at a Mississippi intersection, and the only light lit on your signal is a flashing yellow arrow. What does it let you do?
Correct answer: Turn left once you’ve yielded to oncoming traffic
Why
A flashing yellow arrow permits the turn but doesn’t protect it: drivers coming toward you may still have a green light. The Mississippi manual treats it the same as a solid green ball for left turns, so wait for a gap that’s big enough. Only a green arrow means oncoming cars have been stopped for you.
Which sign shape does Mississippi’s driver manual reserve for marking a no-passing zone?
Correct answer: A sideways pennant, like a long triangle
Why
The pennant carries just one message: don’t start a pass from here. In Mississippi’s system, pentagons belong to school zones and crossings, circles to railroad warnings and diamonds to hazards in general. Shape alone often tells you the message before you can read a word.
You pass a five-sided fluorescent yellow-green sign with two children on it while kids are arriving for school. What top speed does the Mississippi manual set for passing the school?
Correct answer: 15 mph
Why
Mississippi’s manual puts the school zone limit at 15 mph, which applies while you pass a school during recess or as children come and go. Cities and counties may post their own school-zone signs, so obey whatever number is posted. The five-sided shape is your cue that a school or crossing is close.
An open curb space sits near a fire hydrant. Under the Mississippi manual, what’s the closest you may park to the hydrant?
Correct answer: 10 feet
Why
Mississippi keeps parked cars at least 10 feet from a fire hydrant, a shorter gap than many states use. Fire crews need room to reach it and hook up a hose without delay. Learn it with two other numbers: 20 feet back from an intersection’s crosswalk and 30 feet short of a stop sign.
A 19-year-old Mississippi driver is pulled over, and a breath test shows a BAC of 0.03%. What’s the outcome?
Correct answer: A violation: the limit under 21 is 0.02%
Why
Mississippi’s Zero Tolerance for Minors law sets a 0.02% limit for drivers under 21. A first offense brings a $250 fine, an alcohol safety education program and a 120-day suspension, and at 0.08% or more the full adult DUI penalties apply. Drivers 21 and older are held to 0.08%, and commercial drivers to 0.04%.
You’re planning a right turn at the next intersection. At least how far ahead does the Mississippi manual tell you to turn on your signal and begin slowing?
Correct answer: 100 feet
Why
Signal and slow down 100 feet or more before the intersection, for right and left turns alike. That gives the drivers behind you time to react before you brake. If your signal lights ever fail, arm signals held for the same 100 feet do the job.
What’s the youngest age at which you can get a regular learner’s permit in Mississippi?
Correct answer: 15
Why
Mississippi issues a regular learner’s permit at 15, as long as you can prove you’re enrolled in school. Applicants under 18 bring a school attendance certificate dated within the last 30 days. The permit costs $7 and is good for two years.
Two cars roll up to a four-way stop at the very same moment. The other car sits directly to your right. Per the Mississippi manual, who moves first?
Correct answer: The car on your right
Why
At a four-way stop, the first car to come to a complete stop is the first to go. In a tie, the driver on the right gets the right-of-way. Catch the other driver’s eye before you pull out, since a wave isn’t a promise that the way is clear.
You’re overtaking a cyclist on a Mississippi road. How much space does state law require between your car and the rider?
Correct answer: At least 3 feet
Why
Mississippi requires 3 feet or more of clearance when you pass a bicycle, held until you’re safely by. You may even pass a cyclist in a no-passing zone, but only when it’s safe. Bicycles count as vehicles, and drivers may not block a bike lane.
After a fender bender inside a Mississippi city, no one is hurt, but the damage clearly tops $500. What do the drivers have to do?
Correct answer: Notify the city police right away
Why
Mississippi requires an immediate report of any crash that injures or kills someone or causes apparent damage of $500 or more: to the police in a city, or to the sheriff or Highway Patrol outside one. If nobody is seriously hurt and the cars still run, move them out of the main lanes first. From a cell phone, *HP (*47) reaches a Highway Patrol dispatcher.
On a rural Mississippi highway you pass a round yellow sign marked with a big X and the letters RR. About how far ahead are the tracks, usually?
Correct answer: 500 to 900 feet
Why
Out in the country, this advance warning normally stands 500 to 900 feet before the crossing, which gives you room to slow down, look and listen. If lights start flashing or a gate comes down, stop with 15 to 50 feet between your bumper and the closest rail. In Mississippi’s sign system, a round yellow sign always points to a railroad ahead.
You’re following a school bus on a two-lane road when it halts, starts flashing red lights and swings its stop arm out. Under Mississippi law, how far back do you stop?
Correct answer: At least 10 feet
Why
Mississippi requires drivers going either way to stop 10 feet or more from a school bus that shows flashing red lights or its stop sign. Stay put until the children have crossed and the bus either moves on or shuts off its red lights and folds in the stop arm. Under Nathan’s Law, a first illegal pass costs $350 to $750.
On a two-lane state or U.S. highway in Mississippi, what maximum speed is usually posted?
Correct answer: 55 mph
Why
The manual’s speed table gives 55 mph as the usual limit on two-lane state and U.S. highways, while four-lane highways typically allow 65 and interstates 70. A posted sign always overrides the table, so keep reading them. Oncoming traffic only a few feet away is why the two-lane figure is lower.
How much space must you leave between your parked car and a stop sign you’re approaching in Mississippi?
Correct answer: 30 feet
Why
Mississippi bans parking within 30 feet of the approach to a stop sign, a traffic light or any other traffic control device. A car parked any closer can hide the sign from drivers coming up behind you. The open space also lets everyone at the corner see cross traffic.
Arrested on suspicion of DUI, a Mississippi driver refuses the breath test. What happens to the license?
Correct answer: A 90-day suspension, added on top of any DUI penalty
Why
Anyone who drives on Mississippi’s public roads has already agreed to breath, blood or urine testing for alcohol. Refusing brings a 90-day administrative suspension, or a full year with a prior DUI conviction, stacked on any DUI penalty. Saying no doesn’t make the case go away.
Using the Mississippi manual’s car-length rule, how much room should you keep behind the vehicle ahead when you’re doing 70 mph on an interstate?
Correct answer: At least 7 car lengths
Why
Allow a car length per 10 mph of speed, so 70 mph works out to seven. Leave even more behind trucks and buses, which block your view of the road ahead. At 50 mph the same math gives five lengths.
You hold a Mississippi learner’s permit. Who has to be with you every time you drive?
Correct answer: Someone 21 or older who holds a license, riding in the front passenger seat
Why
A permit holder may drive only with a licensed driver 21 or older sitting in the front passenger seat. Next to you, that person can coach you and help if something goes wrong. The permit doesn’t cover motorcycles, either.
Heading toward a state park, you start seeing brown signs with white lettering and symbols. What does that color tell you?
Correct answer: Recreation areas and scenic spots are nearby
Why
Brown is the color for parks, recreation and scenic attractions. Blue points to motorist services such as gas, food and lodging, orange flags construction or maintenance, and black-on-white signs state rules. Learn the colors and you can read a sign before you can make out its words.
On a Mississippi road with two or more lanes heading your way, when may you drive in the far-left lane?
Correct answer: To pass, to exit on the left, or when the right lanes are closed or unsafe
Why
Mississippi law saves the far-left lane for passing, for left-side exits, and for times when the right lanes are blocked or unsafe. Cruising in it can cost a $5 to $50 fine. Slower traffic keeps right, so finish your pass and move back over.
Across the grassy median of a divided highway with four lanes, a school bus has stopped with red lights flashing. You’re driving the opposite way. What does Mississippi law require of you?
Correct answer: Keep going with care, since only traffic behind the bus must stop
Why
On a divided highway of four or more lanes, Mississippi lets traffic headed the opposite direction continue; drivers behind the bus still have to stop. On a two-lane road or an undivided street, everyone stops. Stay watchful anyway, because a child may not wait for the signal.
A SPEED LIMIT 70 sign like this one marks a Mississippi interstate. In normal conditions, what’s the slowest you may legally drive there?
Correct answer: 40 mph
Why
Mississippi interstates have a 70 mph top speed and a 40 mph minimum, and four-lane highways share that same 40 mph floor. Creeping far below the flow is dangerous, because faster traffic comes up on you quickly. Posted limits assume ideal conditions, so in heavy rain or fog, slowing below 70 is still the right move.
You top a rise on a Delta county road and find a tractor ahead. On its back hangs an orange triangle edged in red. What should that emblem tell you?
Correct answer: It’s traveling 25 mph or slower, so you’ll close in fast
Why
That reflective triangle marks a slow-moving vehicle: farm equipment, construction machinery or a horse-drawn wagon going 25 mph or less. Lift off the gas early and wait for a safe, legal place to pass. Around horses, skip the horn and keep the engine quiet.
Orange signs and barrels mark a highway work zone in Mississippi, and the crew is out on the road. If you’re caught speeding there, what can a first offense cost?
Correct answer: Up to $250
Why
Speeding in a marked Mississippi work zone while workers are present can bring a fine of up to $250 on a first offense, and repeat offenses carry steeper maximums. Orange is the color of construction and maintenance, so ease off as soon as it appears. Lanes shift, and workers may be only a few feet from your mirror.
You’re leaving your car on a steep street in Vicksburg, front bumper aimed up the slope, with a curb on your right. How should you set the steering before you walk away?
Correct answer: Wheels turned left, away from the curb
Why
Facing uphill beside a curb, turn the wheels left so that if the car slips backward, the tires roll into the curb and stop. Facing downhill, turn them right, curb or no curb. On an uphill slope with no curb, turn them right too, so a runaway car heads off the road instead of into traffic.
Which of these breaks Mississippi’s distracted-driving law for an adult driver?
Correct answer: Scrolling social media on a phone held in your hand
Why
Mississippi bars drivers of every age from writing, sending or reading texts, and from reading or posting to social media, on a hand-held phone; the penalty is $100. Phone calls aren’t banned for adults, though the manual recommends a hands-free setup. The easiest habit: phone out of reach until you park.
Driving at night with your high beams on, you spot a car coming toward you. Under Mississippi rules, within what distance must you switch to low beams?
Correct answer: 500 feet
Why
Drop to low beams once an oncoming car is within 500 feet, and do the same whenever you follow another vehicle within 500 feet. If the other driver doesn’t dim, let your eyes drift to the right, along the edge line, rather than into the headlights. Keep your own lights low too; answering glare with high beams only blinds you both.
You got your permit at 15 and plan to apply for a license at 16. Partway through the permit year, you’re convicted of a moving violation. What happens?
Correct answer: Your required 12 months on the permit start over
Why
Mississippi wants teens to keep the permit a full year or more before licensing, and a DUI or moving-violation conviction resets that clock to zero. Get the permit at 15½ and stay clean, and you can be licensed at 16½. Careful driving during the permit year is the quickest route to a license.
You’re 16 and just got your Mississippi license. During the first six months, when may you drive alone on a Tuesday, if you’re not headed straight to or from work, school or an extracurricular activity?
Correct answer: Only between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Why
For the first six months, drivers under 18 may drive alone between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. on Sundays through Thursdays, and until 11:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Outside those hours, a parent, guardian or licensed adult 21+ has to sit beside you, unless the trip goes directly to or from work, school or an activity. Once six months pass, or you turn 18, the limit ends.
You’re stopped at a red light on a one-way street in downtown Jackson, and you want to turn left onto a street that’s also one-way. What does Mississippi law allow?
Correct answer: Turning after a complete stop, if the way is clear and no sign forbids it
Why
Mississippi permits a left on red in one situation: you’re leaving a one-way street for a cross street whose traffic also flows one way, you’ve made a full stop, and no sign says otherwise. A right on red follows the same full-stop rule. Rolling through while merely yielding is illegal, so let your wheels stop before you turn.
A road’s middle lane is bordered by solid and broken yellow lines, and turn arrows inside it point in opposite directions. What may you use that lane for?
Correct answer: Getting ready to make a turn across traffic
Why
This shared center lane exists only for setting up a turn across traffic. Pull in just before your turn, signal and wait there for a gap. The Mississippi manual rules out using it to pass or as an ordinary travel lane.
The driver ahead of you holds a left arm out the window, bent upward at the elbow. What is that driver telling you?
Correct answer: A right turn is coming
Why
An arm bent up signals a right turn. An arm held straight out means a left turn, and an arm pointing down with the palm facing back means slowing or stopping. Mississippi law has examiners check that you can give the required signals, and the manual says to hold each one for at least 100 feet.
Mississippi’s move-over law protects stopped police cars with flashing lights, like the one shown. Which of these is also covered?
Correct answer: A rural mail carrier stopped with flashing lights
Why
Besides emergency vehicles, the law covers tow trucks, utility, sanitation and highway maintenance vehicles, and rural mail carriers, whenever they’re stopped with lights flashing. With two or more lanes your way, move to a lane that isn’t next to them; if you can’t, slow down and be ready to stop. A violation can cost up to $250, or up to $1,000 if someone is hurt or the vehicle is damaged.
A storm has knocked out power, and the traffic lights at a busy crossroads are completely dark. How does the Mississippi manual tell you to handle it?
Correct answer: Like a stop sign: make a full stop, then go when the way is clear
Why
When a signal has no working lights, Mississippi treats it as a full stop. Halt, check every direction and continue only when it’s safe. A flashing red light calls for the same complete stop, while a flashing yellow just asks you to slow down and take care.
You’re touring the Natchez Trace Parkway, a National Park Service road that winds through Mississippi. Unless signs show something lower, what’s the speed limit?
Correct answer: 50 mph
Why
The Parkway tops out at 50 mph, and some stretches are posted lower. Because it’s a federal road, tickets written there are handled in federal court. Commercial vehicles aren’t allowed on it at all, so expect sightseers rather than trucks.
Only one of these parking spots is legal in Mississippi. Which one?
Correct answer: 18 feet back from the closest track at a rail crossing
Why
At a rail crossing, Mississippi only asks for 15 feet between your car and the closest rail, so 18 feet is fine. Every other spot is too close: a hydrant needs 10 feet, a fire station driveway 20 feet (75 where signs say so), and the approach to a stop sign 30 feet. When unsure, pick a spot farther away.
A driver 21 or older is convicted of a first DUI in Mississippi. How long is the license suspended?
Correct answer: 120 days
Why
A first DUI brings a 120-day suspension, a $250 to $1,000 fine, as much as 48 hours in jail and a required alcohol safety education class. An interlock-restricted license may keep you driving during that time. A second DUI within five years means a one-year suspension and a fine of $600 to $1,500.
It’s midafternoon and a light rain has your wipers going. When does Mississippi law require your headlights to be on?
Correct answer: From sunset to sunrise, and whenever you can’t see a person 500 feet ahead
Why
Mississippi has no wipers-on, lights-on law. What the law does require is headlights and taillights from sunset to sunrise, and any time the light is too poor to see a person 500 feet away. In a dark downpour that test is easy to fail, so switch them on; the manual also recommends low beams in fog.
Mississippi currently gives no road test for a regular Class R license. What do applicants under 17 provide instead?
Correct answer: A sworn statement from a parent, guardian or teacher about their permit year and 50+ hours of practice
Why
The Affidavit for Road Test Waiver replaces the drive test: an adult swears you’ve held the permit at least a year and driven at least 50 hours. The state sets no separate night-hour minimum, but practicing after dark is still smart. Bring a current school attendance form or report card along with it.
You’re on a city street when an ambulance closes in behind you with its siren wailing and lights flashing. What should you do?
Correct answer: Ease over to the right side, clear of the intersection, and stop
Why
Mississippi law has you pull over to the right-hand side, away from intersections, and stop until the emergency vehicle is past. If you’re already in an intersection, finish crossing it first, then pull over. Freezing in your lane can block the very path the driver needs.
Your car stalls on a railroad crossing and the warning lights start to flash. What should you do?
Correct answer: Get everyone out and hurry away at an angle, toward the direction the train is coming from
Why
A train can reach the crossing within about 20 seconds of the lights starting, so leave the car at once. Moving at an angle toward the oncoming train keeps you out of the path of debris thrown forward in a crash. Then call 911 and the number on the blue Emergency Notification System sign at the crossing.
What to know before you visit a DSB driver license station.
Mississippi · DSB knowledge test
80% to pass.
Multiple choice · On a computerAt least 80% of your answers right
17 or older? Pass the eye exam and knowledge test and you can leave with a permit and a license the same day, with no road test. Starting July 1, 2027, first-time drivers of every age will also need a certified driver education course.
Every question is drawn from the Mississippi Driver’s License Manual (revised December 2024), and state law has it check road signs, signaling and school bus safety. Here’s what to know cold in six key areas.
Six Mississippi figures to lock in before test day.
These 40 questions are just the warm-up. The app gives you 472 Mississippi practice questions, 36 short lessons and the why behind every answer.
Mississippi doesn’t publish a set number of questions, so the score is what counts: DPS rules call for 80%. The test is computerized and multiple choice, drawn from the Mississippi Driver’s License Manual, and state law has it check road signs, signaling and school bus safety.
Not by that name. Learner’s permits, driver’s licenses and the knowledge test are handled by the Driver Service Bureau (DSB) of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, at its driver license stations. Car tags and titles are a separate matter for your county Tax Collector.
No. Every knowledge test is taken in person at a DSB driver license station, and DSB strongly recommends booking an appointment online before you go. Leave your phone, earbuds and smart watch outside the testing area: getting caught with one cancels the test and bars you from retesting for six months. Once you pass, your score is good for two years.
DPS doesn’t list a Spanish version of the test, and the manual is published in English. If you need language help, you may bring your own interpreter along with a signed, notarized Mississippi Interpreter Oath; the interpreter translates the questions only and can’t give hints or answers. This practice test is in Spanish too, and so is the app.
15, as long as you’re enrolled in school. You then hold the permit for 12 months, driving only with a licensed driver 21 or older beside you, and practice at least 50 hours before your license at 16. Get your permit at 16 and you wait 12 months or until you turn 17, whichever comes first; at 17 or older, the permit and the license can come the same day.
$7, and the permit stays valid for two years; there’s no separate fee for the knowledge test. A Class R license costs $24 for four years or $47 for eight. Stations take cash, debit and credit cards, but not personal checks.
Not for a regular Class R license right now. If you’re under 17, a parent, teacher or guardian signs the Affidavit for Road Test Waiver instead, swearing that you’ve held your permit at least a year and practiced at least 50 hours. Bring a current school attendance form or report card with it.
Read the Mississippi Driver’s License Manual: it’s a free download from DSB, or $3 in print at any station. Then practice until 80% feels easy. Start with the 40 questions above, then let the app walk you through 472 Mississippi questions and 36 short lessons, with an explanation for every answer.