Take the rules practice
Ten rules-of-the-road questions, free, no account needed, with a written explanation on every answer — including why the option you nearly picked is the one people pick. The answer order is shuffled on every sitting, so a retake tests the rule rather than where the answer sat last time.
Start the free rules practiceWhat the rules section covers
- What is examined
- The rules of the roadRegulation 104(2)(a)(i) — one of three areas the examiner must be satisfied about
- Where the rules are written down
- Chapter X of the National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000Regulations 296 to 323, headed "Rules of the road and matters relating thereto"
- Same for every licence class
- YesOnly the vehicle controls area is tied to the class you applied for
- Scored on its own
- Yes — a strong signs score cannot carry a weak rules score
Almost every rules question is one of four shapes
You can quiz yourself on individual rules forever and still be surprised on the day, because the questions are not really about the rules one at a time. They are about four recurring shapes, and once you can see the shape you are usually halfway to the answer.
The first is a rule with a closed list of exceptions. Overtaking on the left is the classic: it is forbidden, and then it is permitted in a handful of named situations and nowhere else. If a question offers you a reason that is not on the list, that is the wrong answer however sensible it sounds.
The second is two rules that both apply, where the question is which one governs. A road's speed limit and a vehicle class's speed limit are the standard pair, and the lower of the two always wins.
The third is a rule that only operates in one specific place. Yielding to traffic from your right is a real rule, and it belongs to a junction where traffic moves around a traffic island. Applied to a four-way stop it is simply the wrong rule, which is why that question catches so many people.
The fourth is a duty with a threshold — a distance, a time, a period of the day. Those are the ones worth memorising precisely, because a question built on one is testing the number and nothing else.
A written self-test
You are being overtaken on a road with one lane in each direction. May the other driver use the shoulder to pass you?
No — but you may use it to let them past, which is the part people have backwards. A driver may only drive on the shoulder while being overtaken, between sunrise and sunset, on a road designated for one lane of traffic in each direction, if it can be done without endangering anyone, and if people and vehicles are clearly visible for at least 150 metres. The driver doing the overtaking must still pass on the right.
When may you pass a vehicle on its left?
Only in the situations the regulation names, and only if you can do it safely: when the vehicle ahead is turning right or has signalled that it is; on a one-way urban road wide enough for two or more lines of moving vehicles; on an urban road wide enough for two or more lines in each direction; on a one-way road divided into lanes by road traffic signs; or on the direction of a traffic officer. In none of them may you do it on the shoulder or the verge.
You are approaching the summit of a rise behind a slow vehicle and the road is clear as far as you can see. May you overtake?
No. Passing is prohibited when approaching the summit of a rise, a curve, or any other place where your view is so restricted that passing could create a hazard for traffic coming the other way — unless you can pass without moving onto the right-hand side of the roadway, or the road is one-way. "As far as you can see" is exactly the problem the rule is about.
An ambulance comes up behind you with its siren and lamp going. What are you required to do?
Give it an immediate and absolute right of way. The regulation uses those words, and they leave no room for finishing your manoeuvre first. You still have to do it safely and without mounting a pavement, but the duty itself is not conditional.
How far should you stay behind the vehicle in front?
The regulation sets no figure: it says you may not follow more closely than is reasonable and prudent for the speed, the traffic and the state of the road. The official learner-driver manual is where the numbers come from — a minimum two-second following distance for light vehicles and motorcycles, three seconds for heavy vehicles, and more than that in rain, on a slippery surface, in poor visibility, or when you are being followed too closely yourself.
You arrive at a signalised intersection and no light is showing at all. How do you treat it?
As a stop street — specifically, act as you would at a three-way or four-way stop sign. That means stopping, then going in the order vehicles stopped. Treating a dead signal as a free crossing is the mistake the rule exists to prevent.
A car ahead of you has stopped at a pedestrian crossing to let someone cross. May you pull out and pass it?
No. Where a vehicle is stopped at a pedestrian crossing to let pedestrians cross, a driver approaching from behind may not pass it. You cannot see what the stopped car can see, which is the whole reason for the rule.
You are about to move one lane to the right on a multi-lane road. Do you have to signal?
Yes. The duty to signal covers stopping, suddenly reducing speed, turning left or right, and moving left or right on the roadway — a lane change is squarely in it. The signal must be visible from the front, the rear and the side, and must last long enough to actually warn someone.
You have missed your turn. May you reverse a short way to reach it?
Only if it can be done in safety, and only for as long and as far as is necessary. Reversing is not forbidden; reversing casually, or for longer than the situation needs, is. On a busy road the honest answer is almost always to go around.
You are turning right from a two-way road. Where should the car be before you turn?
As near as circumstances permit to the immediate left of the middle of the roadway you are travelling on, having signalled first. At an intersection you may not cut across onto the right half of the road you are turning into, except within the intersection itself, and you pass to the left of any traffic island unless a sign tells you otherwise.
Where each of those answers comes from
Worth reading even if you got them all right, because the pattern in the right-hand column is what the test is built on.
| The situation | The provision | What it turns on |
|---|---|---|
| Passing on the left | Regulation 298(1) | A closed list of permitted situations, each also requiring safety |
| Passing near a rise or curve | Regulation 298(2) | Restricted view, not whether the road looks clear |
| Driving on the shoulder | Regulation 298A | Being overtaken, daylight, one lane each way, 150 m visibility |
| Emergency vehicles | Regulation 308(1)(h) | "Immediate and absolute" — an unconditional duty |
| Following distance | Regulation 308(1)(b) and the DoT manual | The regulation sets a standard; the manual sets the seconds |
| A traffic signal showing nothing | Regulation 294(4) | Act as for a three-way or four-way stop sign |
| Passing a car stopped at a crossing | Regulation 315(4) | A flat prohibition, not a judgement call |
| Signalling | Regulation 300 | Covers moving sideways, not only turning |
| Reversing | Regulation 308(1)(a) | Safety, plus no longer than necessary |
| Turning right | Regulation 302(2)(a) | Position before the turn, and where you may not encroach |
Three habits the regulations describe differently
Some of the hardest rules questions are about everyday driving behaviour, because the behaviour is common and the rule behind it is narrower than people assume.
The hooter is the clearest case. It may be used on a public road only where that is necessary to comply with the regulations, or on the grounds of safety. A greeting, a thank-you and an expression of irritation are none of those things.
Inviting the car behind you to overtake has an actual prescribed signal, and it is a hand signal: right arm fully extended below shoulder level, palm turned forward, moved backward and forward from the shoulder. There is a prescribed hand signal for slowing down too — right arm out sideways from the shoulder, palm down, moved slowly up and down. If a question asks what a signal means, these are in the regulations and a headlight flash is not.
And the duty to signal is wider than turning. It covers stopping, suddenly reducing speed, turning, and moving left or right on the roadway — so a lane change on a freeway is covered by exactly the same provision as a right turn at an intersection.
The mistake
Answering rules questions from driving experience. Most of these rules describe what a careful driver already does, which makes it easy to read the question, recognise the situation and pick the option that matches your habit. The exam is asking a narrower thing: what the rule says, including the exceptions it does not contain.
The other one is treating a near-miss as a pass. If you picked the right answer but could not say why the other two were wrong, the question got you — you will meet the same distinction again in a form your instinct does not cover.
Common questions
Are these the questions used in the test?
No, and be careful of any site that claims its questions are. These are practice questions written from the National Road Traffic Act, its regulations and the official sign chart, each carrying a citation to the provision it rests on.
How many free rules questions are there?
Ten in the free practice sample, each with a written explanation. It is a fixed set rather than a rotating one, so working through it twice shows you the same ten.
Do I need to know regulation numbers?
No. Nothing in the test asks you to cite a regulation. The numbers are on this page so you can check the answers against the law rather than take our word for them.
Is the rules section the same for a motorcycle or a truck licence?
Yes. Only the vehicle controls area is tied to the class you applied for. Rules of the road and road signs are common to every class.
Where should I go after this quiz?
To whichever of the three areas you are weakest in, which is not necessarily this one. The free readiness test scores you by section rather than giving you a single percentage, which is the number that actually tells you where to spend your time.
Sources
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — regulation 104(2)(a)The three areas the examiner must be satisfied about: the rules of the road, the road traffic signs, and the controls of a motor vehicle of the class to which the application relates.
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — Chapter X, Part I (regulations 296 to 323)"Rules of the road and matters relating thereto" — where every rule quizzed on this page is set out.
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — regulation 298Passing of a vehicle. Sub-regulation (1) sets out the only circumstances in which passing on the left is permissible, each subject to being able to do so safely, and forbids doing so on the shoulder or verge. Sub-regulation (2) prohibits passing when approaching the summit of a rise, a curve or any other place where the view is so restricted that passing could create a hazard.
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — regulation 298ADriving on the shoulder is prohibited except, between sunrise and sunset, on a public road designated for one lane of traffic in each direction, while the vehicle is being overtaken, if it can be done without endangering anyone and if persons and vehicles are clearly discernible at a distance of at least 150 metres.
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — regulation 300A driver intending to stop, suddenly reduce speed, turn left or right, or move left or right on the roadway must give a conspicuous signal, visible from the front, rear and side, of a duration sufficient to warn.
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — regulation 302(2)(a)Turning right from a roadway intended for traffic in both directions: steer as near as circumstances permit to the immediate left of the middle of the roadway, and at an intersection do not encroach on the right half of the roadway being turned into except in the intersection itself.
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — regulation 308(1)General duties of a driver. Paragraph (a) limits reversing to what can be done in safety and no longer than necessary; paragraph (b) prohibits following more closely than is reasonable and prudent; paragraph (h) requires an immediate and absolute right of way to a vehicle sounding a device or bell or displaying an identification lamp.
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — regulation 315(4)Where a vehicle is stopped at a pedestrian crossing to permit pedestrians to cross, the driver of any other vehicle approaching from the rear shall not pass it.
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — regulation 294(4)"When no light signal is illuminated on an approach to a signalised junction, the driver of a vehicle shall act as for a 3-way stop sign R1.3 or a 4-way stop sign R1.4."
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — regulation 310A"No person shall on a public road use the sounding device or hooter of a vehicle except when such use is necessary in order to comply with the provisions of these regulations or on the grounds of safety."
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — regulation 328Permissible hand signals. Paragraph (a) is the slowing-down signal: the right arm extended sideward from the shoulder, palm turned downward, moved slowly up and down. Paragraph (b) is the signal that following traffic may overtake on the right: the right arm fully extended below shoulder level, palm turned forward, moved backward and forward from the shoulder.
- South African Learner Driver Manual, Rules of the Road (Department of Transport, v1.00, June 2012) — §6.49"Maintain a minimum 2-second following distance for light motor vehicles and motorcycles… a minimum 3-second following distance for heavy motor vehicles… Under adverse conditions such as rain, slippery surface, poor visibility or when being followed too closely, the following distance shall be increased." These seconds come from the manual, not from the regulations.
Last updated 2026-09-21.