Preliminary examinations — Hawaii Permit Test

When you apply for a Hawaii driver's license or instruction permit you are given, as required, a vision test, a knowledge test on rules of the road and traffic control devices, and a practical road test.

Each test checks a different way a driver could fail on the road: seeing, knowing the rules, and handling the car.

You will be given the following tests when you apply for a driver’s license or instruction permit as required:

Hawaii may waive the knowledge and road tests for a class 1 to 3 applicant who has a provisional license or a valid license from another state or a country with a reciprocal agreement; renewal applicants may be waived too.

A driver who already passed these tests elsewhere would only be taking them twice.

The knowledge and road tests may be waived for class 1 through 3 license applicants if the applicant has a provisional license or possesses a valid driver’s license that was issued by another state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, a province of the Dominion of Canada, or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, or a country that has a reciprocal licensing agreement with Hawaii.

A Hawaii license shows any license restriction, such as a requirement for corrective lenses, and indicates if the driver is under 21.

An officer who stops a driver needs to see at a glance whether they must be wearing glasses.

and any license restriction, such as requirement for corrective lenses.

Which three tests does Hawaii give when you apply for a driver's license?

Vision, knowledge and road tests. Each test checks a different way a driver could fail on the road: seeing, knowing the rules, and handling the car. State of Hawaii Driver’s Manual, p.12: “You will be given the following tests when you apply for a driver’s license or instruction permit as required:”