Hawaii · Permit test
Start with the Hawaii Driver's Manual. It's the state DOT's free book, and Kauai's DMV says the 30-question test is based on it. Neither Honolulu nor Kauai publishes a separate Hawaii permit test study guide, so read the manual, test yourself on its practice questions and ours, and add an app if you like drilling on your phone. If you're under 18 you'll also need a state certified driver's education course before the road test, so it pays to pick an instructor early.
The manual. Signs, signals and lane markings are in Chapter VI. The rules of the road, from signaling to railroad crossings and parking, are in Chapter V. Following distance, rain, freeways and emergencies fill Chapter X, the longest part. Alcohol is Chapter IX, and pedestrians and school buses are Chapter XII.
The manual says rules and laws sometimes change between printings, and it points you to the county websites for updates. If something you read there differs from the book, ask your county office.
If English isn't your first language, read the manual in yours. The state posts it in 13 other languages, from Spanish and Japanese to Marshallese and Tongan. The Spanish, Korean and Japanese editions are dated July 2017, so check anything surprising against the English one.
If you learn by doing, work through the manual's practice questions, then ours. Private apps are handy for drilling at the end. None of them come from a county or the state, so their questions are their own.
If you're 16 or 17, the road test needs certificates for both a driver's education classroom course and behind-the-wheel training from a DOT-authorized instructor. HDOT keeps a list of approved instructors by island and a list of virtual driving schools, and says being on the list isn't an endorsement.
Work through it in this order:
The state DOT's book for the Class 3 permit, in 13 chapters from licensing rules to bicycle safety. Kauai's DMV says its 30-question test is based on it. The current English edition is the 2023 one, and the manual says printed copies are sold at driver licensing offices.
Checked October 2026
HDOT posts the manual in Spanish, Korean, Japanese, Hawaiian, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Chuukese, Ilocano, Marshallese, Samoan, Tagalog, Tongan and Vietnamese. The Spanish, Korean and Japanese editions are dated July 2017, so check anything that looks different against the English edition.
Checked October 2026
The Hawaii Motorcycle Operator Manual, version 5 from 2017, for the Class 2 written and skills tests, and the Commercial Driver's License Manual, in a 2025 revision, for the CDL knowledge tests.
Checked October 2026
Car, motorcycle and CDL practice, with a signs test, a fines and limits section, a marathon mode and statistics. 4.7 stars from 292 App Store ratings, and version 10.0 is dated September 2025. A private app, not from a county or the state.
Checked October 2026
Practice tests for car, motorcycle and CDL, with bookmarks, progress tracking and suggested areas to work on. 4.7 stars from 29 App Store ratings. The developer says it isn't associated with any state agency.
Checked October 2026
Over 1,000 questions across car, motorcycle and CDL, with mock tests, flashcards, a list of weak questions and dark mode. Only 5 App Store ratings so far, all 5 stars. The listing says it has no link to any government body.
Checked October 2026
Tests run from the basics to harder situations, plus fines and distracted driving sets. Its 30-question simulator matches the length of the real test, but the questions are the site's own. The page also promotes the DMV Genie Android app.
Checked October 2026
If you're 16 or 17, the road test needs certificates for both classroom driver's education and behind-the-wheel training from a DOT-authorized instructor. HDOT lists approved instructors by island and town, on Oahu, Maui, Kauai and Hawaii Island, plus a separate list of compliant virtual driving schools. HDOT says the list isn't an endorsement.
Checked October 2026
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Rules and fees can change, so check the official site before your test.