Oregon Driver Manual: study guide

Key rules by chapter

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

1. Testing (Vision Test, Knowledge Tests, Drive Test)

• The Class C knowledge test has 35 multiple-choice questions; you must answer 28 correctly to pass.
• If you are caught cheating you fail the test and won't be allowed to test again for 90 days.
• Online, you may test two times in a 24-hour period and four times in total; then you must test at a DMV office.

2. Study for Your Tests: Signs & Traffic Signals

• Only right-turning traffic may continue without stopping. Everyone else must stop and yield.
• An Add Lane sign means two roadways join together and you do not need to merge.
• Safety corridors are stretches of highway with more fatal and serious injury collisions than average. Signs ask you to turn on your lights for safety.

3. Lane Travel (speed, pavement markings, space cushion, passing, freeways, large vehicles/towing)

• Variable advisory speed signs are yellow recommendations, not speed limits, but police can enforce them through the basic rule law.
• Variable speed limit signs are black and white and change the legal limit for conditions. Police enforce them like any other speed limit sign.
• Ramp meters only operate at certain times. When dark they are not in use and you should not stop.

4. Turns & Intersections

• Use your turn signal at least 100 feet before turning or changing lanes when moving in traffic.
• Use hand-and-arm signals only in daylight with clear visibility of 1,000 feet. At night or in poor visibility you must use signal lights.
• You may turn across a bicycle lane but you may not move into it in preparation for a turn. Yield to people riding in the bike lane.

5. Sharing the Road (pedestrians, school zones, bicycles, motorcycles, large vehicles, buses, emergency vehicles, work zones)

• A School Hours sign means the limit applies between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. on school days. If unsure whether it's a school day, slow to 20 mph.
• Children are present when they are waiting at a crosswalk, in a crosswalk, or a traffic patrol member is helping children at a crosswalk.
• The temporary work zone speed applies at all times, even when workers are not visible, until an End Work Zone Speed Limit or other speed sign.

6. Railroad Crossings, Light Rail & Street Cars

• When required to stop at a crossing with no stop line, stop at least 15 feet from the nearest rail.
• It is against the law to drive around or under a crossing gate while it is down or being raised or lowered.
• If a train approaches, move away at a 45-degree angle from the tracks in the direction of the train so you are not hit by flying debris.

7. Parking & Stopping

• Park parallel to and no more than 12 inches from the curb.
• Uphill against a curb, turn your wheels toward the travel lane (away from the curb).
• You may not park within 10 feet of a fire hydrant.

8. Safe & Responsible Driving

• Children must be restrained in child safety seats until age 8 or at least 4 feet 9 inches tall with a correctly fitting adult belt.
• Infants must ride rear-facing until they reach two years of age.
• Headlights must be on from sunset to sunrise and any time conditions make it hard to see people or vehicles 1,000 feet ahead.

9. Other Important Information (How to Apply, Additional Services, Mandatory Insurance, Traffic Collisions, Loss of Driving Privileges)

• You need 100 hours of supervised driving, or 50 hours plus an ODOT-approved traffic safety education course.
• With an approved traffic safety course the requirement is 50 hours of supervised driving.
• Driving experience only counts if supervised by someone at least 21 who has held valid driving privileges for at least 3 years.

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 Oregon, which are where most people lose points.