1

0THI
NGS
YOUSHOULD DO
BEFOREYOURDRI
VINGKNOW LEDGEEXAM

ByAndr
eiZakhar
eus
ki
Since we started Driving-Tests in 2010, we've heard
from tens of thousands of recent test-takers who
told us a lot about how their official knowledge
exams went.

Many people do their best but still get to the OMV

overconfident and underprepared because they fail
to do some of the simple things that would allow
them to pass easily. What we noticed was a
discernible pattern behind the success of those
who passed on their first try. If you do those same
things, you will have a much better chance of
passing your knowledge test, too.

What follows are the 10 steps that we believe every

aspiring driver should take to prepare for his or her
official knowledge exam.

The average knowledge test pass rate in the United

States is a terrible 49%. If you want to dramatically
improve your odds of passing, subscribe to our
Premium program, which guarantees that you 1 II
pass the first time. We'd love to help you be fully
prepared and have complete peace of mind when
it's time to take your official exam.

�; driving-tests.org
 1
Gett
hingsi
nor
der
A
tl
eastoneweekbeforetheknowl
edgeexam,
gatherever
ythi
ngyou’
llneedt
otaket
otheDMV
wi
thyou.

Gat
herever
ythi
ngyou’l
lneedt
o
taketotheDMV wi
thyou

Mostst at esr equir

eyout obr i
ngpr oofofyouri dentit
y,
proofofr esidencyi nyourst ate, aSocialSecur itycardif
you’reel igibleforaSoci alSecur itynumber ,
anda
certificat eofcompl etionifyoucompl etedadr iver
’s
educat ioncour se.Fort hevisi
onscr eening,youmust
bringyoureyegl assesorcont actl enses. I
fyouar eunder
18year sofage, youmustbr ingsomef orm ofpr oofthat
yourpar entorguar dianhasgi venyouper mi ssionto
startsuper vi
seddr ivi
ng. Yourst atemayr equi r
eyour
parentorguar diant oaccompanyyout ot heDMVor
havehi sorhersi gnat urenot arized.

Checkyourst
ate’
sofficialdr
ivi
ngmanualort heDMV’
s
websi
tetofindoutexact l
ywhatyouar erequi
redt
o
bri
ngwithyoufortest
ing.Then,col
lectt
hoseit
emsso
youcant
aket
hem al
lwi
thyouwhent
het
imecomes.

•••
 2
Pr
epar
eyourmindandyour
body
I
fyoudon’
tfeelyourbest
,youmaynotdoyourbest
.Al
though
i
tmaysoundlikecommonsense,you’
dbesurpri
sedhow
manypeopl eignoret hi
sobviouspoint
.
Itneverf
ail
s,doesit!Justasasigni
ficantevent(
li
ketaki
ngthe
knowledget est
)isabouttooccur,yougetabadcoldortheflu
oraseveremigrai
neheadache.Behonestwithyoursel
f:Can
yousti
llper
for
m atyourbest
?Ifnot,consi
derpost
poningt he
knowledgeexam. I
nmanystates,
ifyoufai
ltheknowledge
exam,youmustwai tacertai
namountoftimebeforeyoumay
att
empti tagai
n.Hence,post
poningtheknowledgeexam may
notdelayyouanymor ethanfai
li
ngtheexam would.

Thenightbeforetheknowl edgeexam, makesur etoget

enoughsleep.Doyour sel
faf avorandsaynot opartyingt he
nightbef
oreyourt est
. Onest udyhasf oundthatgoingwi thout
sleepf
or24hour scani mpairyourjudgment ,memor y,and
powersofconcentrationasmuchasbei ngl
egallyi
ntoxi cated!
Ifyouwouldn’
ttaket heknowl edgeexam whi leyou’r
edr unk,
don’tt
aketheexam wi thoutenoughsl eepei
ther.
Thenightbeforetheexam, avoidstressingorsti
mulat i
ng
yoursel
fwi t
hsuspensef ulTVshows,exci
ti
ngmovi es,
video
games, heatedar gument sonsoci
almedia,oreventhedr i
ving
manual .Restingyourmi ndwil
lbenefityoumuchmor ethan
crammi ngal lni
ght. W henyougot obed, gotosl
eep.Sleep.
Notwat chTVorl istent othenews.

Fi
nall
y,setyouralar
m cl
ocksoyou’l
lwakeupacoupleofhours
befor
etheknowl edgeexam.Ther
ear eacoupl
eofot
herthings
youshoul
ddobef
oret
heexam.

•••
 3
St
artyourdayof
fri
ght
I
fyou’vet
akent
heprevi
ousst
ep,youshoul
dbewel l
r
estedandawaket
hismorni
ng.Now st
artyourdayoff
r
ight
.

Haveawel
l-bal
anced,pr
otei
n-packed
breakf
ast

Haveawel l
-balanced, prot
ein-
packedbr eakfastt
of uel
yourmi ndandbodyf ortheknowl edgeexam. Butbe
carefulwithsti
mul antslikecaff
einat edbeverages.Too
muchcaf f
einecanmakeyout ooj i
tterytoconcent r
ate.
Instead,consi
derdoi ngsomemi l
d, non-exhausti
ng
exercisetokeept hebl oodflow sur gingtoyourbr ain.

Exercisecanal sohelpdi
ssipatethenervousnessthat
vi
rtuallyeveryonefeelsj
ustbeforeani mportantexam.
However ,ifyou’vef
oundt hattestanxi
etycausesyouto
fr
eezeupandyourmi ndtogobl ankduringanexam,
considerlearningsomer elaxat
iontechni
quessuchas
medit
ati
onorevenseeki
ngprofessi
onalcounsel
ing
bef
oreyourknowl
edgeexam i
sscheduled.

Inshort,
pamperyour selfanddon’ttakeonanythi
ng
thatmayaddt oyourst r
esslevel
.Trytoavoi
dother
sourcesofst
ressatt
hi stimesoyoucanf ocuson
passi
ngt
heknowl
edget
est
.

•••
 4
Revi
ew yourt
rai
ningmat
eri
als
onel
astti
me
Takeonelastquicklookatyourstat
e’sofficialdr
ivi
ng
manualtorefreshyourmemor y,especi
allyofthetopi
cs
youf
oundt
ricki
est
.

Thestat
emanualincl
udesat
remendousamountof
i
nfor
mat ion.
Youmaywonder,How am Isupposedt
o
rememberal lthis?Youcanoftenfigureoutt hecor
rect
dri
vingtechniquet ouseinagiveni
nstance.However,
you’
llprobabl
yhavet omemorizest
ate-speci
ficfact
s
suchasspeedl imits,
legall
imi
tsonalcohol
consumpt i
on,how closeyoucanlegall
yparkt oafire
hydrantorcrosswalk,andsoon.

W hil
eyouar escanningt hrought hepagesoft he
manual ,j
otdownsuchspeci ficfacts.Bytheti
met hat
youar edonescanningt hemanual ,youwi l
lhave
compi l
edal i
stofthefactst hatareusuallythehardest
toremember .I
fyouneedt or ef
reshyourmemor y,you
cangot hrought hel
istrathert hant heenti
remanual
again.

Theknowl edgetestmayhavequestionsonavar i
etyof
traf
ficsigns.Butyoucert
ainl
ydon’thavetomemor i
ze
themeani ngofeachoneseparatel
y.Know how to
recogni
zet hevar
ioust
ypesofsignsbytheircol
orsand
shapes.Know t
hatthoseblackarrowsonr egulator
yor
warningsignsi
ndicatepathsoftr
avelforvehicl
es.Know
thatonregulat
orysigns,
ar edci
rcleandslashovert he
i
ndicatedpathoft
ravelmeansthatthi
spat
hoftr
aveli
s
prohi
bited.
Rememberal lt
hisandyoucanoft
enfigureout
whatt
hespeci
ficsi
gnmeansf
rom t
hewor
dsands
ymbol
son
i
t.

Usual
ly,
thesi
gnsaretheeasi
estpartoftheknowledget
est.I
f
youcanansweral
lthosequesti
onscorr
ectly,
you’
llbemore
l
ikelytopasstheknowledget esteveni fyoumi ssacoupl eof
harderquestions.
Tohelpyoul ear
nt hesi gns,useflashcar dsi
f
necessar
yandaskaf r
iendorr el
ati
vet ot estyou.You’
llneed
toknow allaboutthesignsonceyou’ r
ebehi ndthewheel ,
anyway!

Theknowl edget estwi llprobabl yalsoincludequest i

onson
theright -of-
wayr ul es. Taket heser ulesser i
ously;onceyou’re
behindt hewheel , they’ llhelpyouavoi ddr i
vingconfli ct
sthat
canleadt oanacci dent .Eachr ight-of-
wayr uleappliestoone
kindofdr ivi
ngsit uat ion. Tolearnther ule,learnwhi chtypeof
sit
uationi tappl i
est o. Tr ytovisualizeyour selfdri
vingavehi cl
e
inthatsi tuation.Tohel pyouvi sualizeit,
makeaqui cksketch
ofther oadori nter sect ion. I
tdoesn’ thavet obet oof ancyor
arti
sti
c. Youcanal souseGoogl eMaps’ StreetView toview
i
magesoffamili
arroadsandi
nter
sect
ionsnearwhereyou
l
ive.
Thinkabouthow youwoul
dapplytheri
ght-
of-
wayr ul
es
t
odr i
vingt
here.

W henyouthinkyou’
vedoneenoughstudying,
takeour
pract
icet
eststoeval
uat
eyourunder
standingofthebasi
csof
drivi
ng.
Dissat
isfiedwi t
hyourper
for
manceont hesepr
act
ice
tests
?Don’tgetdiscouraged.
Not
ewhichquest
ionsyou
mi
ssedandr
esol
vet
ost
udyt
hoset
opi
cssomemor
e.
 5
W earappropr
iatecl
othi
ngf
ort
he
knowledgeexam
Youdon’twantt
obecomechill
edorover
heat
edduri
ng
theknowledget
est
;ei
theronecanmakeyoudrows
y.

Dressi
ncomf
ort
ableclot
hingthati
sappropr
iat
eforthe
ambientt
emper
ature.
Pickoutacomfort
ableoutfitt
hat
i
sn’tconst
rict
ingorannoyi
ngt osi
tinforl
ongperiods.
Also,
youmi ghtaswelll
ookpresentabl
ebecauseifyou
passtheknowl edget
estattheDMV, you’
llpr
obably
haveyourpi
cturetakenforyouri
nst
ruct
ion(
lear
ner
’s)
permitordr
iver
’sl
icense.

Don’tforgettot
akeyourstat
e’srequiredi
temswit
hyou.
Andgot othebathr
oom j
ustbef oretheknowl
edge
exam start
ssoyouwon’thavet olater.

Now i
t’
sti
mef ort
heknowledgetest–butt
her
eare
someimport
antstepsyoushoul
dtakether
easwel
l.

•••
 6
Readeachexam quest
ion
int
ell
igent
ly
Youreyesandmi
ndworkatdi
ff
er entspeeds.
Ifyour
ush
thr
oughaquesti
on,
youmightpickthewr onganswer.
Nomatterhow si
mpl ethequest
ionsseem,
besureto
r
eadeachoneatl eastt
wicewhilekeepi
ngthef
oll
owing
ti
psi
nmi nd.

Lookoutf ornegati
ves.
Thesearekeywordsl
ike“
avoi
d,”
“except
,”or“not”t
hatcaninver
tthesenseofthe
quest
ion.I
fyoufai
ltospott
hese,
youmi
ghti
nterpr
et
thequest
ionbackwardandchooseawr
onganswer.

Youmayencount eraquest iont hatappear stohavet wo

correctanswer s.
W hatshoul dyoudo?Logi call
y,one
ans wermustbebet terormor ecompl etet hant heot her
one. Don'trushtopi ckthefir stplausiblechoiceyou
find. Theremaybemor ethanonepl ausibl
echoi ce,but
thecor r
ectans werist hebestormostcompl eteans wer.
Findar easontopr eferoneans werovert heot her .Tr
yto
crit
iquebot hans wers.Isthereadr ivi
ngsi t
uat i
onf or
whi choneans weri slessappr opri
atet hant heot her?

Watchfor“Al
loftheabove”choices.I
f“Alloftheabove”
i
strue,
thenalltheotherchoi
cesar ealsotrue!I
fyou
don'
tnoticet
he“ Al
loftheabove”choice,youmaypi ck
oneoftheothert
ruechoi
ceseventhough“
Alloft
he
above”i
sthemostcompleteanswer.

•••
 7
Uset
hepr
ocessofel
imi
nat
ion
If you don't know the correct answer to a test question,
use the process of elimination to eliminate choices that
you know are wrong and then make an educated guess
from the remaining choices.

A test question may include one ridiculous or outlier

choice, intended to catch test takers who guess
completely randomly. Quickly identify and eliminate
that choice.

For example, here is a question on the right-of-way from

some of our permit practice tests:

If two vehicles arrive at an uncontrolled intersection

(i.e., one without signs or signals) from different
roadways at about the same time, the vehicle ___
has the right-of-way.

1. on the right
2. on the left
3. that weighs less
4. that signals first

This question has four answer choices. However, choice

(3) is clearly absurd. There is no way that you can know
how much every car on the road weighs. Eliminate this
choice immediately.
Ift
herearefourchoi
cesandyoucaneliminatetwoofthem,
yourchanceofguessingcor
rect
lywi
llr
isefrom onei
nf our
tooneint wo.I
ntheabovequest i
on,choice(
4)isonl
y
sl
ightl
ylessabsurdthanchoice(
3).W henyou’r
e
approachinganintersect
ion,
youcan’tbeexpectedt
oknow
whent heot hervehi
clefirststartedtosignal
. Yourstate
dri
vingmanualdoesn’ tadviseyout okeept rackofthis.
Besides,theothervehicl
emayhavej ustemer gedf r
om
behindabui ldi
ngorot herobjectthatwasobscur ingits
approachandi tssi
gnalfrom you. El
iminatechoice(4)too.
Hence, t
hecor r
ectanswerisei t
herchoice(1)orchoice( 2)
.

Notethatif“
Alloft
heabove”isoneoft hechoi
ces,youcan
el
iminateiti
fyoucaneliminat
eatleastoneotherchoiceas
i
ncorrect
.(Andsimil
arl
yfor“Noneoftheabove.”
)

Forexampl
e,her
eisaquest
iononpassinganot
hervehi
cle
fr
om someofourper
mitpract
icet
ests:

Beforepassinganot hervehicle,youshould
1.dri
veofft hepavedort raveledpor t
ionoftheroad.
2.l
ookaheadf orroadcondi ti
onsandt r
affic.
3.passont heleftifthedriverissignali
ngaleftt
urn.
4.doal
loft
heabove.

Choi
ce(
1)isclear
lyabsur
dandcanbeeli
minated
i
mmediately.
(Driveof
faroadwayt
hatl
acksashoul
derand
youmayfindyour sel
fstuckinadi t
ch–orworse.
)Now you
caneli
mi nat
echoice(4)aswell,meaningt
hatthecor
rect
answeriseit
herchoice(2)orchoice(3)
.
 8
Takeyourbestguessi
fnecessar
y
I
fyoust
il
ldon'tknow t
heanswerevenafterappl
ying
t
heprocessofeli
minati
on,
don'
tgetrat
tledorpani cky.
Youdon'
thavet
ogetaper
fectscor
etopasst
he
knowl
edgeexam.

Aft
eryou’veeli
mi natedasmanywr ongchoicesas
possi
ble,cal
mlyt akeyourbestguessfr
om the
remainingchoicesandmoveont othenextquest
ion.

•••
 9
Doubl
e-checkyouranswer
s
W henyoudoknow t
hecorr
ectans
wert
oaquest
ion,
sel
ectthatans
wer
.Befor
eyoumoveontot
henext
quest
ion,however,
takeadeepbreathand
doubl
e-checkthatyouindeedsel
ect
edthatans
wer
.

W henapersoni
sunderpressur
e,heorshemay
acci
dent
all
ypickthewrongchoiceeventhoughheor
sheknowswhichchoi
ceisri
ght.

•••
 1
0
Bel
ievei
nyour
sel
f
Beconfidentinyourabi
li
tytohandl
ethechal
lengeof
passi
ngtheknowledgetest
.Inf
act,
bel
ievi
nginyoursel
f
i
snecessar
ytosucceedi
nhandl
inganychal
lenge!

•••
Ifyouhavedoneever ythingyoucoul dtopreparefor
yourknowl edgetest,r
evelinthi
nkingposit
ively.
Be
proudofyour sel
fforhavingprepar
edsowel l
,and
visuali
zeyoursel
fhappilywalki
ngoutoft hetesti
ng
facil
it
yafterhavi
ngpassedt heknowl edgetestwitha
highscore.Remember ,youcandoi t
!

Al
lthebest
!

AndreiZakhar euski,
Dri
ving-Tests.org,FounderandCEO
[email protected]
htt
ps:/
/drivi
ng- tests.
org
 Addt hese10t hingst oyourdr i
ving
knowledgeexam pr eparationplan,andyou
wil
lseeresults.Signupf orDr i
ving-Test
s
Premium,andyou’ llseeevenmor e.Infact,
weguar anteethatyou’ l
lpass.W e’dloveto
hel
pyoubef ull
ypr eparedandconfident
wheni t’
stimef oryout ot aketheexam.

Regi
sterToday

dr
ivi
ng-
test
s.or
g/pr
emi
um/
«Thisi
sanexciti
ngnew toolwecanoff
erour
dri
versthatwi
llhel
pwithourgoaltocr
eatea
saf
ert
ranspor
tati
ons yst
em»

Debbi
eTr
ojovsky
Dri
verSer
vices,
Progr
am Manager,
W yomingDepartmentofTranspor
tati
on

«
Thesepract
icedri
vingskil
lsexamsmake
studyi
ngeasierandlessstressf
ul.
»

I
ndi
anaBur eau
ofMotorVehicl
es

«Fi
rst-
timedriverorneedaref
reshercour
se?
TestyourknowledgeontheRulesofthe
Roadhere.
»

KansasDepartment
ofTranspor
tat
ion

«Ionlyhadonedaybef orethetest.Ididget
t
hedr ivi
ngbook,butIcouldn'
tfocusoni t
,so
IdecidedtobuyPr emium whichIt hi
nkwas
thebestdecisi
on.Itpr
eparedme, Iacedmy
t
estandwasabl etogetthelicenser i
ght
away.»

Pi
nalS.
Pr
emi
um memberl
ivi
ngi
nFl
ori
da
Here's why 95.2% of Premium
customers pass vs. the US
national average of 49%
Since 2010, over 20 million Americans have used our
website to pass their OMV exam and win the day.
We've heard from thousands of recent test-takers
who told us every little detail of how their OMV
exam went. That 11insider11 knowledge is at the heart
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