Parking & Stopping Rules — California
California DMV practice test: 617 free practice questions (38 official sample questions · Official driver handbook). The official format is not yet verified; check the official site before your test. Parking & Stopping Rules: 30 questions.
Where you may park, distances from hydrants and crossings, hill parking and disabled permits.
This topic page is still being reviewed against the official handbook. Until review is finished it is hidden from search engines.
| Topic / Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Topic | Parking & Stopping Rules |
| License test | California Car learner's permit test (Class C) |
| Topic questions | 30 (5% of 617 total) |
| Review status | This topic page is still being reviewed against the official handbook. Until review is finished it is hidden from search engines. |
Official handbook
Not yet verified
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Questions (30)
1. Who can legally park next to curb painted blue?
- Someone who is either picking up or dropping off passengers at this location.
- A person who is disabled and has a special placard or vehicle license plate for disabled persons. ✓
- A person who will only be parked at the curb for less than 15 minutes.
Answer: B. A person who is disabled and has a special placard or vehicle license plate for disabled persons.
Only a person who is disabled and has a special disabled placard or license plate may legally park next to a blue curb. The handbook lists blue as a painted curb with a specific parking rule: it is for a disabled person, or someone driving a disabled person, who has a special placard or special license plate. Painted curbs are not general parking spots, so the blue color marks disabled parking rather than a passenger stop or a short-time stop. The correct choice matches that rule because it names both the disabled status and the required placard or plate.
2. When is parking in a crosshatched (diagonal lines) area allowed?
- It is never allowed to park in a crosshatched (diagonal lines) area. ✓
- If the area is at least twenty feet away from a railroad track.
- If the area is labeled as a bicycle lane, unless otherwise posted.
Answer: A. It is never allowed to park in a crosshatched (diagonal lines) area.
3. What color curb does not allow vehicles to stop or park?
- Yellow.
- Red. ✓
- White.
Answer: B. Red.
A red curb means no stopping, standing, or parking. The handbook's list of painted curb rules spells out what each color allows. Red is the strictest of the colors listed: it permits no stopping, standing, or parking at all. The only exception the handbook gives is that buses may stop at a red zone marked for buses only. Yellow, by contrast, is for loading and unloading passengers and freight, so vehicles there may stop within the posted time. That makes red the color that bars stopping and parking entirely.
4. Which of the following is the proper procedure for parallel parking?
- Drive forward into the space without stopping.
- Stop next to the vehicle behind the open space, and then drive forward into the space.
- Stop next to the vehicle in front of the open space, and then back into the space. ✓
Answer: C. Stop next to the vehicle in front of the open space, and then back into the space.
Stop beside the vehicle in front of the open space, then back into the space. The handbook's parallel parking steps start by finding a space and signaling, then pulling up alongside the vehicle ahead of the space. You leave about two feet between the cars and stop when your rear bumper is aligned with the front of the space. From there you check blind spots and back in at about a 45-degree angle, straightening as you get close to the curb. That sequence matches stopping next to the vehicle in front and reversing into the space.
5. If you parallel park facing downward on a hill:
- Turn your wheels sharply toward the side of the road. ✓
- Turn your wheels away from the side of the road.
- Keep your wheels straight.
Answer: A. Turn your wheels sharply toward the side of the road.
When you parallel park facing downhill on a hill, turn your wheels sharply toward the side of the road, meaning toward the curb. The California handbook says that when you are headed downhill, you turn your front wheels into the curb or toward the right side of the road. It also says a vehicle on a hill could roll if equipment fails, so you should set the parking brake and leave the vehicle in park or in gear. The question describes facing downward, so the downhill rule applies: point the wheels toward the curb or side of the road.
6. When entering traffic after being parked at a curb, you:
- Should drive more slowly than other traffic for 200 feet.
- Should wait for a large enough gap to get up to the speed of traffic. ✓
- Should wait for the first two vehicles to pass, then drive into the lane.
Answer: B. Should wait for a large enough gap to get up to the speed of traffic.
When pulling away from a curb, wait for a gap big enough to get up to the speed of traffic. The handbook's section on entering traffic says that from a full stop you should signal and leave yourself a large enough space to reach the speed of the cars around you. It puts a number on that space: about half a block, roughly 150 feet, on city streets, and a full block, roughly 300 feet, on the highway. This tells you to look for a real opening in traffic rather than just the first small break, so you merge at a matching speed instead of rolling out slowly in front of faster cars.
7. If you park facing uphill where there is no curb, set the parking brake and:
- Turn your wheels toward the edge of the road. ✓
- Turn your wheels away from the edge of the road.
- Keep your wheels facing straight.
Answer: A. Turn your wheels toward the edge of the road.
When you park facing uphill with no curb, set the parking brake and turn your wheels toward the edge of the road. The handbook warns that a parked vehicle on a hill could roll because of equipment failure, so you set the parking brake and leave it in park or in gear. For parking either uphill or downhill where there is no curb, it says to turn the wheels to the right so the vehicle will roll away from the center of the road if the brakes fail. Turning toward the edge of the road follows that no-curb rule.
8. You have been involved in a minor traffic collision with a parked vehicle and you can't find the owner. You must:
- Leave a note on the vehicle. ✓
- Report the accident without delay to the city police or, in unincorporated areas, to the CHP.
- oth of the above.
Answer: A. Leave a note on the vehicle.
9. You want to park downhill on a two-way road and there is no curb. Which way do you turn your front wheels?
- Straight ahead
- Right, toward the side of the road ✓
- Left, toward the center of the road
Answer: B. Right, toward the side of the road
You should turn your front wheels to the right, toward the side of the road. The handbook gives a no-curb rule for parking on a hill: aim the front wheels right, toward the side of the road, whether you are headed uphill or downhill. In a downhill spot, that points the car away from the center of the road if the brakes fail, instead of letting it roll toward traffic. The handbook also says to use the parking brake and put the car in park or in gear.
10. It is illegal to park your vehicle:
- In an unmarked crosswalk. ✓
- Within three feet of a private driveway.
- In a bicycle lane.
Answer: A. In an unmarked crosswalk.
It is illegal to park on a marked or unmarked crosswalk, so parking in an unmarked crosswalk is against the law. The handbook's list of places where you may never park or leave your vehicle includes a marked or unmarked crosswalk. An unmarked crosswalk is still a crosswalk, so it falls under the same rule as a painted one. That space belongs to pedestrians crossing the road, and the handbook treats it as off limits for parking rather than as a spot you can use when nothing is painted on the pavement.
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Last checked: 2026-10-17 · Not yet verified
Updated: · 38 official sample questions · Official driver handbook