Kansas gives you 25 questions, lets you miss five, and does not put a clock on it. There is also no point system to memorize, because Kansas does not have one. This page collects every figure worth committing to memory.
The test itself
- 25 multiple choice questions, pass at 80%, which is 20 correct
- Not timed. The handbook expects 15 to 20 minutes, but nothing forces you
- Road signs are folded into those 25, so there is no separate signs exam to prepare for
- Take it at a Full-Service Driver License Center, through an approved driver education course, or online
There are no points, and that is not leniency
Kansas assigns no demerit points. Nothing accumulates, nothing expires, and no defensive driving course buys anything back. What exists instead, under K.S.A. 8-255, is a suspension on conviction of three moving violations within any twelve-month period.
In a points state a small speeding ticket costs a few points out of twelve and a course recovers some. In Kansas that same conviction is simply one of your three, weighted identically to something far more serious. No partial credit, no route back down.
Speed limits
These are the defaults where nothing is posted, and they come up on the exam.
| Where | Limit |
|---|---|
| School zone or business district, properly marked | 20 mph |
| Any urban district | 30 mph |
| County or township roads | 55 mph |
| State or federal highways | 65 mph |
| Separated multilane highways so designated | 75 mph |
Alcohol
| Driver | Illegal at |
|---|---|
| Age 21 and over | 0.08% BAC |
| Under 21 | 0.02% BAC |
An impairment conviction is possible below 0.08 in any case. Refusing a chemical test brings a one-year suspension for a first refusal, rising to two years for a subsequent one.
The ladder starts at 14 and climbs slowly
| Age | What you get |
|---|---|
| 14 | Instruction permit, or a farm permit if you live or work on a farm of at least 20 acres |
| 15 | Restricted license, requiring completed driver education and 25 hours of supervised driving |
| 16 | Lesser restrictions once a 50-hour affidavit including 10 night hours is filed |
| 17 | Unrestricted license |
Anyone under 17 must hold the state-issued permit for a full year before the driving test, and time on a driver education permit slip does not count toward it.
At the lesser restrictions stage, driving is allowed 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., plus travel for work, school and religious activities, and you may carry one non-sibling minor passenger.
Two traps sit in that ladder. Without the 50-hour affidavit the restrictions simply continue until 17. And two or more moving violation convictions before 16 keep the license restricted until 17 no matter how many hours were logged.
Throughout the restricted stages, no wireless device may be used at all, except to report illegal activity or summon emergency help.
Your supervising driver needs experience, not just age
Most states ask only that the adult be 21 or older. Kansas requires 21 and at least one year of licensed driving experience, so a newly licensed 21 year old does not qualify. On the instruction permit that adult must sit in the front seat, and nobody else may sit there.
Online driver education is not accepted
Kansas states this plainly: a certificate from an internet driver education course will not be accepted for licensure. The approved routes are programs through an accredited local school district approved by the Department of Education, or approved private schools offering 8 hours of classroom instruction and 6 hours behind the wheel. Plenty of online courses advertise nationally without making this clear.
Distances
| Rule | Distance |
|---|---|
| Signal before a turn or lane change | 100 feet |
| No passing before an intersection, railroad crossing, stopped emergency vehicle, or an obstructed bridge, viaduct or tunnel | 100 feet |
| Return to your lane after passing, before coming within | 200 feet of an oncoming vehicle |
| U-turn banned where you cannot be seen for | 500 feet |
| No parking from a fire hydrant | 15 feet |
| No parking from a traffic signal, stop sign or flashing beacon | 30 feet |
| No parking from the nearest rail | 50 feet |
| Parked wheels from the curb | Within 12 inches |
Hold the signal until you are ready to turn. After passing, wait until you can see the entire front of the vehicle you passed in your mirror before moving back over.
Other numbers worth knowing
- Following distance: two seconds in prime conditions, four under adverse ones
- Seat belts: a primary violation, so an officer can stop you for that alone
- Child restraints: under 4 needs a federally approved child safety seat. A child aged 4 to 8 may use an adult belt instead of a booster only if taller than 4 feet 9 inches or over 80 pounds
- School buses: on an undivided road you stop until the stop signal is retracted and the red lights are off
- Work zones: speeding fines are doubled. Work zone signs are orange with black lettering
- Flood water: six inches reaches the bottom of most passenger cars and can cause loss of control or stalling. Two feet of rushing water carries most vehicles away
- Trains: a 100-car freight train at 55 mph needs more than a mile to stop once emergency braking begins
A caveat about the Kansas handbook
The Kansas Driving Handbook is built on an AAMVA model manual, and the state says outright that portions have been summarized and that Kansas law takes precedence over any discrepancy or omission. Some general safe-driving passages are model text rather than Kansas statute.
Every figure on this page comes from sections citing Kansas statutes directly, not from the generic model passages. It is worth knowing the distinction exists, because study sites that scrape the handbook wholesale do not make it.
Use this properly
An untimed test with five allowed mistakes is one of the gentler setups in the country, but four failures cost you six months, so a casual first attempt is expensive. A cheat sheet is the last read-through rather than the study plan. The Kansas Driving Handbook is free. 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 documents, the ladder and the whole process, see the Kansas permit guide.
Disclaimer: Pass The Permit is an independent study resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Kansas Department of Revenue, the Division of Vehicles, or any government agency. Laws change and local ordinances vary. Always confirm current figures against the official Kansas Driving Handbook and the Division of Vehicles at ksrevenue.gov before relying on them.