What Every Driver Must Know (SOS-133): study guide

Key rules by chapter

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

1. Your Driver's License

• Michigan won't issue a license to a never-licensed applicant who has two or more moving-violation convictions within three years of applying. No more than one is allowed.
• You must be at least 16 for a chauffeur's license and pass the written chauffeur's test.
• CDL drivers aged 18-21 may drive commercial vehicles only in Michigan. You must be 21 to cross state lines or haul placarded hazardous materials.

2. Your Driving Record

• Points are posted only after a conviction and stay on your record for two years from the date of conviction.
• Twelve or more points, or six or more one-point violations, within two years requires a driver assessment reexamination.
• Reckless driving is a six-point violation, along with operating while intoxicated, fleeing police and refusing a chemical test.

4. Traffic Laws

• The fine is $100 for a first offense and $250 for later violations.
• Subsequent hand-held phone violations bring a $250 fine.
• In the roughly quarter second it takes to shift attention, a car at 65 mph covers 24 feet.

5. Signs, Pavement Markings and Signals

• A vertical rectangle indicates a law or regulatory sign; a horizontal rectangle gives directions.
• Fluorescent pink signs are used for incidents, emergencies or unplanned events.
• Only law enforcement, emergency or maintenance vehicles may use emergency crossovers. Other drivers should go to the next exit and re-enter the freeway.

6. Sharing the Road

• At 55 mph a passenger vehicle stops in about 130 feet; a commercial vehicle takes about 400 feet.
• Slow-moving vehicles can't go faster than 25 mph, such as buggies, farm machinery and construction equipment. Four-wheelers and golf carts are not considered slow-moving vehicles.
• Reduce speed to 15-20 mph and keep at least 20 feet behind a horse and rider or buggy. Never honk or rev your engine.

7. Emergencies and Special Situations

• NHTSA has estimated that 66 percent of traffic fatalities are caused by aggressive driving behaviors.
• Pedestrians, motorcycles of 124cc or less, mopeds, bicycles, ATVs and slow-moving vehicles are not allowed on freeways.
• With three or more lanes in one direction you may drive in any lane, but stay in the slower lane if you are near the minimum speed.

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 Michigan, which are where most people lose points.

Third-party practice sites quote 50 questions and 80%, but no official source confirms this, so it was not used.