Speed and conditions — Louisiana Permit Test
Speed and conditions on the Louisiana permit test — 5 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
A frontal crash at 35 mph is one-third more violent than one at 30 mph.
Just 5 mph more makes a crash hit much harder. Small speed gains raise the harm fast.
A frontal impact at 35 mph, for example, is one-third more violent than one at 30 mph.
Speed limits are posted for ideal conditions; on wet or icy roads, in poor visibility or in heavy traffic you must slow down.
The number on the sign assumes dry roads and clear views. Rain, ice or fog mean you need more room to stop.
Remember that speed limits are posted for ideal conditions,
The best way to avoid speeding is to check your speedometer often.
Most people cannot tell their speed by feel. A quick look at the gauge shows the truth.
The best way to avoid speeding is to check your speedometer frequently.
It is easy to go faster than you think right after moving from a high-speed multilane road to a slower single-lane road.
After a long time at highway speed, a slower speed feels like crawling, so drivers often keep going too fast on the smaller road.
This is especially true when switching from high speed multiple-lane roadways to lower speed single-lane roadways.
Louisiana's General Speed Law says you must not drive faster than is reasonable for the area, road, traffic, light and weather.
A legal limit can still be too fast for fog or a crowded street. You are expected to pick a safe speed yourself.
The General Speed Law is that you must not drive at a speed greater than is reasonable.
On the test
How much more violent is a frontal crash at 35 mph than one at 30 mph?
About one-third more. Just 5 mph more makes a crash hit much harder. Small speed gains raise the harm fast. Class D & E Driver's Guide, p.86: “A frontal impact at 35 mph, for example, is one-third more violent than one at 30 mph.”
How this works
Most practice tests hand you a bank of questions and leave the manual somewhere else. This one puts them together.
You read one law and the reason behind it, then answer a question on that law while it is still fresh. Get it right and you move on; get it wrong and you have found the gap while it is cheap to fix, not on the morning of the exam.
Learning one rule at a time, and proving it immediately, is what turns a manual you skimmed into something you actually know — and it makes studying feel like getting somewhere rather than like waiting to find out.
What it costs
- One payment, once — not a subscription. Nothing renews and there is nothing to cancel, for an exam you sit one time.
- Free to start: a 10-question test and the first section of cards. No sign-up and no account.
- Paying opens the rest of the cards, unlimited full-length practice tests, and retests built from exactly the questions you got wrong.
- Every level up to Prepared — 3 tests passed in a row.
- Do the work, fail the real exam, and we refund you.
Where these come from
Every rule here is checked against Class D & E Driver's Guide, published by the Louisiana Department of Public Safety, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-10-04.
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/LA.pdf (Class D & E Driver's Guide, DPSMV2052 (R08/25), Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles, retrieved 2026-09-14; sha256 pinned in SOURCES.json)
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/LA.pages.txt (the plain pdftotext fixture every citation here was cut from and verified against; sha256 pinned in SOURCES.json)
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/LA-exam.html (the OMV's Permits page, https://expresslane.la.gov/omv/drivers/personal-driver-s-licenses/permits/, archived 2026-10-04; the 40-question count)
- https://expresslane.la.gov/omv/resources/driver-manuals/
- https://expresslane.la.gov/omv/drivers/personal-driver-s-licenses/new-licenses/ (read 2026-10-04; "An 80% is the minimum passing score for the knowledge test.")