Nevada gives you 25 questions and lets you miss five. The DMV states the format openly, which makes it one of the easier states to prepare for — provided you are reading the DMV and not a study site that printed 50 questions. This page collects every figure worth committing to memory.
Where you take it changes the rules
Nevada lets you sit the real knowledge test at home through KnowTo Drive, the DMV online testing partner. The two versions are not identical.
| Aspect | Online (KnowTo Drive) | DMV office |
|---|---|---|
| Time limit | 60 minutes | None |
| Device | Computer with front-facing camera | Provided |
| Touch screens | Not supported | — |
| Appointment | Not needed, available 24/7 | Needed |
The session is webcam-proctored, so a tablet or phone will not work. Under-18 applicants need a parent or guardian to register alongside them. If a 60-minute clock would rattle you, the office has no time limit at all.
Speed limits
| Where | Limit |
|---|---|
| Business and residential areas | 25 mph |
| School zones | 15 or 25 mph as posted |
The school zone limit applies on school days from half an hour before school starts to half an hour after it ends, unless signed otherwise.
Alcohol
| Driver | Illegal at |
|---|---|
| Age 21 and over | 0.08% BAC |
| Under 21 | 0.02% BAC |
The adult limit is set by NRS 484C.110. A driver under 21 at 0.02% faces revocation for 185 days. Nevada also suspends a minor license for things unconnected to driving: alcohol or drug offenses, firearms violations, graffiti, and habitual truancy.
Driver education and practice hours
You can get the permit at 15½ with no driver education at all. The course only becomes mandatory at the license stage, and the hours depend on which route you take.
| Route | Behind-the-wheel hours |
|---|---|
| Approved classroom course | 50, including 10 at night |
| Approved online course | 50, including 10 at night |
| No course | 100, including 10 at night |
The no-course route is not a choice you get to make. It is available only if no approved course exists within 30 miles of your home and you cannot access an online one. Home-schooled students are explicitly not exempt. Hours go on the DLD-130 log or the RoadReady app, and even app users need a parent or guardian signature on the first page of the form.
Holding the permit
- Hold it six months if you are under 18 before licensing
- For those same six months you must stay free of at-fault crashes, moving violation convictions, and any alcohol or drug conviction. A single ticket restarts the clock
- Permit valid one year, and your written test results last one year too
- Let it lapse by more than 30 days and you retake the written test
Once you are licensed at 16 or 17
- Curfew 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. unless driving to or from a scheduled event
- First six months: no passengers under 18 except immediate family
The curfew runs until you turn 18 regardless of when your license was issued, so getting licensed early does not shorten it. That is the part people misread.
Distances
| Rule | Distance |
|---|---|
| Signal a turn, city streets | 100 feet |
| Signal a turn, open highway | 300 feet |
| No passing before a street or railroad crossing | 100 feet |
| Passing a bicyclist with no adjacent lane | 3 feet minimum |
| Parked wheels from the curb | Within 18 inches |
| No parking from the nearest rail | 50 feet |
| Stop from the tracks when a train is coming | At least 15 feet |
| U-turn banned where you cannot see | 200 feet each way |
| Travel in a center left turn lane | Up to 200 feet |
If you turn from the highway into a center lane, you may travel no more than 50 feet before merging. It is not a travel lane and you may not pass in it. When passing a bicyclist, if a lane to the left exists and moving over is reasonably safe, you must change lanes rather than squeeze by. A parked vehicle should be visible for 200 feet in each direction. U-turns are also banned in business districts, on one-way streets and in front of a fire station.
Twelve points, and a flat speeding scale
| Item | Points |
|---|---|
| Reckless driving | 8 |
| Careless driving | 6 |
| Speeding 41 mph or more over | 5 |
| Failure to yield, following too closely, running a signal or stop sign, passing a school bus | 4 each |
| Speeding 21 mph over | 4 |
| Speeding 1–10 over, and 11–20 over | 2 each |
| DUI | None — it brings revocation instead |
Suspension is automatic at 12 or more points in any 12-month period, for six months, with a warning letter at three. That flat bottom end surprises people: a 10-over ticket and a 20-over ticket carry the same two points.
Points expire 12 months after the conviction date. A DMV-approved traffic safety course removes three, once every 12 months, and only if you are between three and eleven points and the course was not part of a plea bargain.
Other numbers worth knowing
- Following distance: two seconds minimum at 40 mph or less, though four is the safer habit. Rear-end collisions are the most common crash type on Nevada roads
- Look ahead: 12 seconds in normal driving, 20 to 30 seconds at freeway speed
- Braking: double your speed from 30 to 60 mph and braking distance becomes roughly four times as long, not twice. The most useful arithmetic on the test
- Hydroplaning begins between 35 and 55 mph in heavy rain. The first rain of the season is the worst, when oil and water mix
- Ramp meters: one car per green
- Cell phones: handheld voice calls prohibited without a hands-free accessory. Texting and any non-voice use is banned outright
- Child restraints: rear-facing in the back seat until at least two years old
- Red curb means no stopping, standing or parking
- Solid white lines between lanes going the same way mean do not change lanes or pass
Use this properly
Five wrong answers out of twenty-five is thinner margin than it sounds once the 60-minute online clock is running. A cheat sheet is the last read-through rather than the study plan. The Nevada Driver Handbook is free and is the source of every exam question. Read it, use this page to check the numbers stuck, then take the full practice test until you are consistently above 22 out of 25. For fees, documents and the whole process, see the Nevada permit guide.
Disclaimer: Pass The Permit is an independent study resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles or any government agency. Laws change and local ordinances vary. Always confirm current figures against the official Nevada Driver Handbook and the Nevada DMV at dmv.nv.gov before relying on them.