Quick answers about the Pennsylvania knowledge test.

The Pennsylvania knowledge test has 18 multiple-choice questions. You need 15 correct to pass, which works out to about 83 percent. Questions are drawn from the Pennsylvania Driver Manual (PUB 95) and cover traffic signs, signals, and pavement markings; Pennsylvania's driving laws, including the point system and DUI; and safe driving practices, including the seat belt, child restraint, anti-texting, and bicycle safe-passing laws. There is no separate signs section and no separate laws section: the three areas are mixed together across the 18 questions.

You need 15 correct answers out of 18, which is about 83 percent. There are no scored sections, so one overall total decides the result and a strong area cannot be failed on its own. Missing three questions is allowed; missing four is not. There is also no time limit on the Pennsylvania knowledge test, so read each question in full before you commit to an answer.

Yes. If you do not pass, you may retest the next business day, and there is no retest fee. That makes a failed first attempt a delay rather than a real setback: read the sections that tripped you, take the extra day, and come back. Because Pennsylvania collects the permit fee up front rather than charging per test, a second sitting costs you time and not money.

The learner's permit fee is $6.00, paid when you submit your DL-180 application. A first four-year driver's license is $39.50 ($27.50 if you are 65 or older). There is no separate charge for the knowledge test and no separate charge for the road test, and a retest carries no fee either, so the two application fees are the whole cost of licensing itself. Fees are set under 75 Pa.C.S. Sec. 1951 and listed on PennDOT's driver licensing fee chart.

Fill out PennDOT form DL-180 before you go, because part of it has to be completed and signed by a health care provider and the Driver License Center will not fill that section in for you. Then bring: - The completed DL-180 and the $6 permit fee. - Your Social Security card. PennDOT is required to collect the number for identification; it does not appear on your permit or license. - Two proofs of Pennsylvania residency, such as current utility bills, a W-2, tax records, a lease, or mortgage documents. - Proof of identity and date of birth: a U.S. birth certificate with a raised seal, a valid U.S. passport, a Certificate of U.S. Citizenship (N-560), or a Certificate of Naturalization (N-550 or N-570). If you are under 18, bring a completed Parent or Guardian Consent Form (DL-180TD) as well. That form covers the residency requirement in place of the two proofs above, and it must be notarized if the signing adult cannot come with you. Originals only; copies are not accepted, and every document must show the same name and date of birth. Showing up one document short is the most common reason a first-time applicant has to make a second trip.

Drivers under 18 must log 65 hours of behind-the-wheel training before the road test. Ten of those hours must be at night and five must be in bad weather. You also have to hold the learner's permit for at least six months before you can take the road test. A parent or guardian certifies the hours, so keep the log as you go rather than reconstructing it the week of the test.

0.02 percent. Pennsylvania's Zero Tolerance Law sets the limit for drivers under 21 far below the 0.08 percent that applies to drivers 21 and older, and commercial drivers sit at 0.04 percent. Practically, 0.02 is low enough that a single drink can reach it, which is the point: for a driver under 21 there is no safe amount to drink before driving.

15 mph. That is the lowest posted limit you will meet in ordinary Pennsylvania driving, and it is well below the 25 mph residential default, so a school zone is one of the few places where holding a normal residential speed is already a violation. The limit applies during the posted school-zone hours, marked by the school zone signals.