Kentucky Driver Manual: study guide

Key rules by chapter

A few of the rules from each chapter that come up in our practice questions:

1. The Driver's License

• Kentucky lets you take the vision and knowledge tests and apply for a learner's permit once you turn 15.
• Applicants must make a minimum score of 80% to pass the written test.
• Anyone who gets a permit between ages 15 and 20 has to keep it at least 180 days before the road test.

2. General Information

• Minimum coverage is $25,000 per person and $50,000 per accident for bodily injury and $25,000 property damage, or a $60,000 single limit.
• Failure to maintain insurance is a criminal offense: registration is revoked and the owner and driver face $500 to $1,000 fines, up to 90 days in jail, or both.
• A person who buys a vehicle or brings one into Kentucky must apply for registration within fifteen days.

3. Be in Shape to Drive

• Kentucky's per se DUI limit for adult drivers is 0.08; driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs is also illegal.
• If you are under 21, you violate the law with an alcohol concentration of 0.02 or more (zero tolerance).
• Being under 0.08 is not a safe harbor: if your driving shows you are impaired by alcohol or another substance, you can still be charged with DUI.

4. Before You Drive

• Keep about 10 inches between your chest and the wheel, but don't sit so far back that steering becomes hard.
• A person may not operate a motor vehicle manufactured after 1981 unless the driver and all passengers wear properly fastened seat belts.
• The seat belt law is primary in Kentucky; drivers can be stopped if observed not wearing seat belts.

5. Basic Driving

• 10 and 2 is no longer recommended because of air bags; place hands at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions on the outside of the wheel.
• Grasp the wheel at the 12 o'clock position with your left hand, put your right arm on the seat back and look through the rear window.
• You always turn the wheel toward where you want the vehicle to go; in reverse, that means turning it toward where you want the back end to move.

6. Rules of the Road

• When making a left turn, yield to drivers in the opposing traffic lane—including vehicles turning right.
• Right-of-way rules say who should yield, but nobody is guaranteed the right-of-way; judge each situation.
• A vehicle may clear the intersection on red if it entered while the signal was yellow; entering after the light turns red is illegal.

7. General Driving

• A pass must be completed before reaching a no-passing zone and before coming within 200 feet of an oncoming vehicle.
• When there is only one lane in your direction, Kentucky law requires at least 3 feet of clearance when you pass a bicycle or electric scooter.
• You may drive left of center, even in a no-passing zone, to pass a bicycle or e-scooter if the roadway to the left is clear for a safe pass.

8. Safe Driving Tips

• Look far down your path, ideally 20 to 30 seconds ahead, so you have time to plan instead of reacting at the last moment.
• Your vehicle must have mechanical signals; hand signals cannot be used.
• Sixty-five miles per hour is the limit on interstate highways and parkways when not otherwise posted.

9. Emergency Situations and Avoiding Crashes

• Steer toward the side the rear of the car is sliding to; that brings the front back in line with the rear.
• Turn off the engine, shift to neutral and look for an escape path, steer smoothly, brake gently and pull off.
• Place emergency flares about 200 to 300 feet behind the vehicle.

10. Sharing the Road

• When following a motorcyclist, allow a minimum 4-second following distance or more in wet conditions.
• Pedestrians crossing outside a marked or unmarked crosswalk must yield to vehicles—but drivers must still be prepared to yield and stop.
• Not yielding to a blind pedestrian with a white cane or assistance dog can bring a fine of up to $250.

11. Special Driving Situations

• An autocycle is treated as a motorcycle for traffic rules, but the operator needs only a valid operator's license and is exempt from headgear rules.
• The maximum recommended speed for most vehicle-trailer combinations is 55 mph.
• Add at least one second for night driving and at least two additional seconds on unfamiliar roads at night.

How to study the handbook

Read one chapter, then take a practice test. Every answer explanation names the handbook section it comes from, so when you get one wrong, go back to that section. Pay most attention to exact numbers and to the rules specific to Kentucky, which are where most people lose points.

Verifier (2026-10-27): no KSP or KYTC page gives the number of questions; the figures found online come only from third-party practice sites, so questions/passCorrect stay null.