Texas Driver Handbook (DL-7): study guide

Key rules by chapter

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

1. Your License to Drive

• A Texas learner license applicant must be at least 15 (and under 18) and have completed the classroom portion of driver education.
• The supervising driver must be at least 21, have at least one year of driving experience, and sit in the seat beside the learner.
• Phase One requires applicants under 18 to hold a valid learner, hardship, or combination license for at least six months before a provisional license is issued.

2. Vehicle Inspection and Registration

• The foot brake must stop the car within 25 feet at a speed of 20 mph.
• All vehicles must have tires in safe condition with a minimum tread depth of 2/32 of an inch.
• Nothing may extend more than three inches beyond the left side, or six inches beyond the right side, of the body, running board or fenders.

3. Safety Responsibility

• Texas requires at least $30,000 for injury or death of one person, $60,000 for two or more people, and $25,000 for property damage.
• A first conviction carries a fine of $175 to $350.
• On a second or later conviction, the court may impound the vehicle for 180 days, along with a license suspension and a $350 to $1,000 fine.

4. Right-of-Way

• A driver on a single or two-lane road must yield to vehicles on a divided road or a road with three or more lanes.
• A driver on a frontage road must yield to vehicles entering the frontage road from the highway and to vehicles leaving the frontage road to enter the highway.
• A vehicle entering a lane of traffic from the right must yield to a vehicle entering the same lane from the left.

5. Signals, Signs, and Markers

• You must obey an officer directing traffic at all times, even if told to do something ordinarily considered against the law.
• You may also turn left on red if both streets are one-way, unless prohibited by law, after stopping and yielding.
• A flashing yellow arrow allows a left turn, but you must yield the right-of-way to oncoming traffic.

6. Signaling, Passing, and Turning

• Signal continuously for at least 100 feet before turning or stopping.
• If you cannot get into the proper lane within one-half block before turning, do not turn; continue straight ahead.
• Turn from the left lane into the right lane moving in the same direction.

7. Parking, Stopping, or Standing

• Do not park or stand a vehicle within 15 feet of a fire hydrant.
• Do not park or stand a vehicle within 20 feet of a crosswalk at an intersection.
• Do not park within 30 feet upon the approach to any flashing signal, stop sign, yield sign, or traffic control signal at the side of the road.

8. Speed and Speed Limits

• The speed limit in an urban district is 30 mph.
• The speed limit in an alley is 15 mph.
• On highways numbered by Texas or the U.S. outside an urban district, including Farm to Market roads, the limit is 70 mph.

9. Some Special Driving Situations

• Do not stop for emergency vehicles in the roundabout circle; clear the circle first and then pull over.
• Allow more following distance, at least four to six seconds, when following a motorcycle.
• The average passenger car at 55 mph can stop in about 240 feet; a fully loaded tractor-trailer may need more than 400 feet.

10. Alcohol and Drug Impact on the Driving Ability

• In Texas, a person 21 or over is legally intoxicated with a BAC of 0.08 or more, or with loss of normal use of mental or physical faculties.
• Even if not intoxicated, a minor with any detectable amount of alcohol while driving in a public place commits DUI by a minor.
• The legal limit is 0.08 BAC or any amount that results in the loss of normal use of mental or physical faculties.

11. Motor Vehicle Crashes

• The handbook says the written report on the TxDOT form must be filed no later than the 10th day after the date of the crash.
• Failure to stop after a crash with under $200 in damages is a Class C misdemeanor with a fine not to exceed $500.
• Do not move or lift the victim unless absolutely necessary; if moving is needed, get help and keep the position they were found in.

12. Pedestrian Safety

• A pedestrian crossing anywhere other than a crosswalk at an intersection must yield the right-of-way to all vehicles.
• Take the necessary precautions to avoid injuring or endangering the pedestrian, and come to a full stop if that is the only way.
• Pedestrians should walk on the left side of the road if there are no sidewalks and step off the pavement when a car approaches.

13. Bicycle Laws and Safety

• A slower bicyclist need not ride at the right edge in an outside lane less than 14 feet wide without an adjacent bike lane.
• On a one-way road with two or more marked lanes, a bicyclist may ride as near as possible to the left curb or edge.
• A bicycle used at night needs a front lamp emitting white light visible at least 500 feet ahead, and a red rear reflector.

14. Additional Safety Tips

• The driver and all passengers, regardless of age, must use safety belts if seated where a belt is available.
• Any child under 8 must be secured in a federally approved child seat unless the child is more than 4'9" tall.
• The driver is fined $100 to $200 for passengers under 17 riding without a safety belt.

15. Appendix A: Glossary of Terms

• Overdriving headlights: low beams are limited to 45 mph and high beams to 65 mph for stopping purposes.
• The basic speed law means you may not drive faster than is safe and prudent for existing conditions, regardless of posted limits.
• A deceleration lane is an expressway lane used to slow your vehicle without blocking vehicles behind you.

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 Texas, which are where most people lose points.