The Alaska Driver Manual: what to read for the permit test

Download the manuals

The car manual is about 5MB. You can’t bring it into the test, it says so on the cover, so read it before you go.

What’s in it

The PDF runs to about 95 pages. These are the parts the test questions come from.

• Licenses, permits and the provisional license rules
• Insurance, crash reporting and the points system
• Alcohol, drugs, DUI and implied consent
• Seat belts and child seats
• Speed limits, following distance and signaling
• Turns, intersections, right-of-way and roundabouts
• Signs, signals and pavement markings
• Sharing the road with pedestrians, bikes, motorcycles, school buses, trucks and trains
• Night driving, weather, skids and moose
• Parking, emergency vehicles and emergencies

Alaska facts worth learning by heart

• Default speed limits: 15 mph in alleys, 20 in business districts and school zones, 25 in residential areas and 55 elsewhere.
• Follow at least four seconds behind, and six or more on wet or slippery roads.
• Signal for at least 100 feet before a turn.
• Dim your high beams 500 feet from an oncoming vehicle and 300 feet behind one you’re following.
• Under 21, any alcohol at all means losing your license.
• After a crash with injury or more than $501 of damage, send proof of insurance to the DMV within 15 days.
• If a moose runs out, brake firmly and don’t swerve.

A faster way through it

Read the manual once from start to finish. Then use our guide’s topic summaries and the practice test to find your gaps, and go back to those sections. The test is based on the manual, not on the practice questions, so the manual is what you need to know.