Quick answers about the Texas knowledge test.

Texas does not publish a question count, and any site that gives you a firm number is repeating a figure the state has never confirmed.

What Texas does publish is the standard: you need a grade of 70 percent or better to pass any knowledge exam. The handbook says so and says nothing about how many questions produce that percentage, and the Department of Public Safety pages that would carry a count do not carry one either.

The practical effect is that you cannot budget a number of misses. Study for the whole handbook rather than for a margin.

Seventy percent or better. That is the figure the Texas Driver Handbook states for any knowledge exam.

Because Texas does not publish how many questions the exam carries, 70 percent is the only number you can plan around. It is also the standard the practice tests on this site score you against.

There is no standalone at-home exam you can book from the Department of Public Safety and sit on your own laptop.

There is a route that ends up close to one. An approved adult driver education course, the six-hour course for applicants 18 and over, can be taken online and gives its mastery exam online. The certificate it issues is accepted at the driver license office in place of sitting the written test there.

Otherwise the default is a driver license office by appointment. One more thing worth knowing: state law gives you the right to take the knowledge parts in writing instead of, or in addition to, an electronic method, and if you sit both versions you pass by passing either one. The department is required to tell you that.

Yes, and Texas sets no mandatory waiting period between attempts. The delay is whatever the next appointment slot is.

What Texas does set is a budget. One application fee entitles you to three examinations of each part of the test on that application. If you have not qualified after the third attempt, you file a new application and pay the fee again. The application itself also expires if you have not been issued a licence within about 90 days.

So the limit is three attempts and a 90-day window, not a cooling-off period.

A first Class C driver licence is $33, and a learner licence is $16. A renewal is $33 and an identification card is $16.

There is no separate charge for the knowledge exam or the driving test: those are covered by the application fee, which is also what limits you to three attempts before you file again.

Three things, and the identity requirement is the one that catches people out.

Identity works three ways, and you satisfy any one of them: one primary document, or two secondary documents, or one secondary plus two supporting documents. A valid US passport or an unexpired Texas licence is primary. A birth certificate is secondary. A Social Security card, a school record or an out-of-state licence is supporting.

You must also provide your Social Security number, or proof that you are not eligible for one, in which case you complete the department's Social Security Number Affidavit.

Residency takes two printed documents showing your name and Texas address, and one of them has to establish that you have lived in Texas at least 30 days. The 30-day rule is waived if you are surrendering a valid, unexpired licence from another state.

Driver education, and the requirement reaches further than most people expect: it applies to teens and to first-time applicants aged 18 through 24. A new resident 18 or older who surrenders a valid out-of-state licence is not held to the adult course.

Separately, every applicant must complete the online Impact Texas Drivers course for their age group before the driving exam. That one is an awareness module and never a substitute for the knowledge exam.

Bring the right certificate to your drive test: a DE-964 or DEE-964 from a certified school or an approved parent-taught program, a DE-964E from a public high school, or the adult ADE-1317 or ADEE-1317 if you are 18 to 24.

Thirty hours of behind-the-wheel practice, and at least 10 of those must be at night.

The supervising driver has to be licensed, 21 or older, and in the vehicle with you the whole time. Those 30 hours are in addition to the in-car instruction inside a driver education course, and they are the parent's or guardian's job to run and record.

A provisional licence holder under 18 may not drive between midnight and 5:00 a.m., except for work, school activities, or a medical emergency.

Two other restrictions run alongside it. No more than one passenger under 21 who is not a family member. And wireless devices are off the table entirely, including hands-free ones, unless there is an emergency. That last one surprises people, because hands-free is legal for adult drivers in Texas: the graduated licence rule reaches further than the general rule does.

Zero. Any detectable amount of alcohol in the system of a driver under 21 is an offence, and it does not require impairment.

A first offence is a Class C misdemeanour: a fine up to $500, 20 to 40 hours of community service related to alcohol education, and an alcohol awareness program the court must order. Because a first offence is punishable by fine only, the automatic under-21 suspension that follows other alcohol convictions does not attach to the conviction itself, but a suspension usually arrives from the other direction. Give a specimen showing any detectable alcohol and the administrative suspension is 60 days on a clean record, and that runs whether or not the charge sticks.

For comparison, the adult limit is 0.08 and the commercial limit is 0.04.

Texas publishes no statewide school zone speed. The number on the sign is the number that binds you.

The prima facie limits in state law cover urban districts, alleys, highways and beaches, and none of them names a school zone. Instead a city council, a county commissioners court, or the Texas Transportation Commission lowers the limit near a particular school after an engineering and traffic investigation. A county may drop a road within 500 feet of a school to 20 miles per hour.

So the answer to a test question about school zones is the posted limit, and it applies only while the zone is active: during the posted hours, or while the yellow beacon is flashing.

Yes. Reading, writing or sending an electronic message while driving is an offence unless the vehicle is stopped.

A first offence carries a fine of $25 to $99. A repeat is $100 to $200. If the violation causes death or serious bodily injury it becomes a Class A misdemeanour carrying a fine up to $4,000 and jail time.

Texas does not have a general handheld ban for adults, so a phone call on a handset is not itself the offence. Under 18 is different: every wireless device is prohibited, hands-free included, unless there is an emergency.

Vacate the lane closest to the stopped vehicle if the road has two or more lanes going your way. If you cannot, slow to 20 miles per hour below the posted limit where that limit is 25 or higher, or to 5 miles per hour where it is under 25.

The list of vehicles it protects is longer than most drivers think, and longer than the handbook's own page says. State law covers eight classes: stationary emergency vehicles, tow trucks, TxDOT and highway construction vehicles, utility service vehicles, garbage and recycling trucks collecting beside the highway, toll project vehicles, animal control vehicles removing an animal or carcass, and a local employee's vehicle stopped to write a parking ticket. The last two were added on September 1, 2025.

It does not extend to an ordinary disabled car showing hazard lights. Penalties run from $500 to $1,250 for a first offence, and a repeat offender can lose the licence for up to six months.