Plain answers
Questions, answered
Every answer below states only what this site can back up, with the same disclosures the rest of the site carries.
How many questions are on the California permit test?
The DMV requires a score of 80 percent and publishes no question count. Recent test-takers consistently report 46 questions (pass at 38) if you are under 18, and 36 questions (pass at 30) if you are 18 or older. An exact 80 percent of those counts would be 37 and 29, so the reported lines are one question stricter, and our mock exam grades on the stricter ones.
What happens if I fail the real test?
You get three attempts per application, and if you are under 18 you wait seven days before trying again, not counting the day you failed. That rule is on PDF page 11 of the official handbook (DL 600 REV. 6/2025).
What is the citation on every question?
Three things: the handbook section, the PDF page in the official file, and the handbook's own revision marker (DL 600 REV. 6/2025). Tap the proof on any answer to print it, then open the official handbook and check it yourself.
Is it really free?
Pro $24.99 once for three months, no auto-renew, no card kept, it simply ends. No subscriptions ever. No trial, no card. Practice is free to start in every state we cover, and starting needs no account. Going on from there takes a free account. An account adds more questions and a mock exam. Every answer shows its page in every tier. Practicing beyond that, further mock exams, choosing your own topics and the mistake drill are Pro.
What is Pro?
The whole question bank with no cap, mock exams with no cap, and the mistake drill, on top of the free questions you keep. One payment of $24.99 covers three months: no auto-renew, no card kept, it ends on its own, and your free questions and their citations stay.
I paid for Pro and my account does not show a pass. What now?
Open the page Stripe returned you to after payment and sign in there. If that is not possible, email support@permitproof.org with your Stripe receipt.
Where do the questions come from?
Questions written in our own words from the California Vehicle Code and the official handbook. Each one is written by a language model from that state's official manual, then checked twice by two independent AI passes before it ships. The handbook's own text is licensed for non-commercial use, so we never copy its wording: facts and laws are free for everyone, exact wording is not.
Where do the road sign images come from?
They are the official MUTCD sign graphics from the Federal Highway Administration, public domain as US government works. Every file is listed in a public manifest with its checksum, and no lookalike images are used.
Do I need an account? What do you collect?
Starting needs no account. An account adds more questions and a mock exam, and there are two ways to make one: with Google, or with an email address and a password. With a password we store a one-way scramble of it and never the password itself. Your scores and any practice runs you save live in your browser on your device, and a saved run is never uploaded. A few anonymous actions are counted so we can tell whether the proof gets used and where readers stop. Opening a citation, and clicking through to the official PDF, each send our server the state and the question number. Starting or finishing a mock exam sends the state, the format, and whether it passed. Reaching a set point in free practice, meeting the paid offer, opening a pricing page, and pressing the buy button each send the state and which moment it was. Asking somebody else to pay, and a payment coming back through one of those links, each send the state and nothing else. Coming back to practice on a later day sends the state and nothing else; your own browser keeps that day on your device, and the day itself is never sent. That is the whole list of what is counted: no cookies, no IP address stored, and no way to tie any of it to you. If you email a report to support@permitproof.org, that mail is sent by your own mail app and holds only what you chose to write; nothing on this site identifies you, so it cannot be tied to your practice.
What happens when you find an error?
The question is corrected or removed, whichever the handbook supports. Spot something off yourself? Email support@permitproof.org with the question and the page it cites.