Before You Drive and Be Alert: Required Equipment, Tires, Lights, Seat and Mirror Adjustment, Safety Belts, Fatigue, Distraction and Impairment
Written for aiforu2 as the source for a practice-test bank and the on-device tutor for the Ohio driver license knowledge test. The facts follow the official manual; the wording is ours.
Source: Ohio Driver Manual (Digest of Ohio Motor Vehicle Laws, HSY 7607, October 2025 printing), Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles, section 2 "Before You Drive" (pp. 4–6) and section 3 "Be Alert" (pp. 7–8).
Required equipment
You cannot control other drivers or the road, but you can control your vehicle's condition. Ohio law forbids driving, or letting anyone drive, a vehicle so unsafe that it endangers someone, and bans protruding objects, sharp broken edges or loose parts that could hurt a person who touches them. A typical vehicle must have:
- Steering that works normally with no excessive play.
- Tires with at least 1/16 inch of tread and no bumps, bulges or damage.
- At least two seat belts in the front seat.
- A service brake that slows, stops and controls the vehicle, and a parking brake that holds it on a grade.
- Two headlights, one each side; two red rear reflectors visible from 300 feet; a red taillight visible from 500 feet; two red brake lights visible from 500 feet; a white plate light readable from 50 feet.
- Turn signals, two front and two rear, visible from 300 feet.
- Working wipers, a rear-view mirror with a clear view to the rear, a horn audible from 200 feet that sounds like a motor-vehicle horn, and a working exhaust system in constant operation.
- Window tint no darker than 70 percent light transmission on the windshield and 50 percent (plus or minus 3) on the front side windows.
Check for safety recalls with the VIN on the NHTSA recalls site.
Tires
Under- or over-inflated tires and low tread cause preventable crashes. Keep tires at the manufacturer's pressure printed on the door jamb, checked when the tires are at air temperature, with a gauge on the valve stem; add or release air as needed. Check tread with a penny: put Lincoln's head into the deepest groove, and if the whole head shows, the tire is worn out and must be replaced. Studded tires are legal in Ohio from November 1 through April 15.
Lights
Headlights are required from sunset to sunrise, whenever visibility is poor (rain, snow, fog), and whenever the wipers are running because of precipitation. High beams may be used whenever headlights are on except when a vehicle is approaching. Turn signals show a turn, a change of course or a lane change, and go on at least 100 feet before the move. Hazard lights make a vehicle stopped on or near the road easier to see.
Seat and mirrors
Sit upright with your back against the seat and feet on the floor, with a clear view through the windshield and full control of the pedals and wheel. Properly adjusted: your foot pivots from brake to accelerator with the heel on the floor; the top of the wheel is no higher than your shoulders and below your chin; there are at least 10 inches between your chest and the wheel for the air bag; and the head restraint touches the back of your head, not below ear level, to prevent whiplash.
The inside mirror is the primary rear view: frame the rear window. To shrink blind spots, set the left mirror with your head against the driver's window until the car's left edge is barely visible, and the right mirror with your head over the center console until the rear right edge is barely visible. You will not see your own car's sides, but each mirror gains 12 to 16 degrees of view, and a passing car moves from the inside mirror to the side mirror to your peripheral vision without disappearing.
Safety restraints
Air bags are supplemental and work best with belts; both keep your head and upper body from hitting the interior. Ohio's belt law requires the driver and front-seat occupants of most passenger vehicles to buckle up, even with air bags. For drivers under 18, occupants are limited to the number of belts and everyone must wear one. Wear the belt over the bony shoulders and hips: the shoulder belt across shoulder and chest with little slack, never under the arm or behind the back, and the lap belt snug and low across the hips so you cannot slide out in a crash.
Vision, fatigue and aggression
Safe driving depends on good health and sound decisions. Have your eyes checked regularly. If you passed the vision screening with corrective lenses, the license carries a vision restriction and you must always wear them when driving; avoid dark or tinted lenses at night. Fatigue from strain, repetitive tasks, illness, medication or lack of sleep dulls vision and slows reaction. Aggressive driving is an intentional act that endangers people or property: speeding, tailgating, unsafe lane changes, improper signaling and ignoring signals and warning signs.
Distracted driving
A distraction is anything that takes your hands off the wheel, eyes off the road or mind off driving: phone calls, texting, emotional conversations, eating, or loose children and pets. Driving distracted is illegal in Ohio.
18 and older: it is illegal in most cases to use, hold or physically support a phone or wireless device while driving, and an officer who sees it may stop you. Hands-free calls and features are allowed if you do not hold the device or type letters, numbers or symbols; a single touch or swipe to activate or deactivate is permitted. Exceptions: reporting an emergency; holding the phone to the ear during a call started with one touch; use while stopped at a light or parked during an emergency or road closure; first responders, utility workers in outages, licensed amateur radio operators and commercial drivers using a mobile data terminal. Penalties within two years: first offense 2 points and up to $150 (a distracted driving course can waive fine and points); second 3 points and up to $250; third or more 4 points, up to $500 and a possible 90-day suspension. Fines double in a work zone.
Under 18: no electronic device at all, even hands-free, even at a red light or in a traffic jam; only navigation and emergency calls are excepted. It is a primary offense: first violation 60-day suspension and $150; second one-year suspension and $300.
Alcohol, drugs and driving
Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, including prescription and over-the-counter medicine, is illegal. Alcohol and drugs blur vision and weaken the ability to judge distance, speed and movement, slow reaction time, and impair judgment. The State Highway Patrol's OVI Dashboard shows Ohio's impaired-driving crashes and injuries.
Practise this with Ohio Driver License questions
More of this guide
The vision screening and 40-question knowledge test, the Temporary Instruction Permit (TIPIC) and its age rules, 24+8 hours of driver education and 50 logged hours, the five-marker maneuverability test, the road test, compliant vs. standard cards, probationary restrictions under 18, CDL classes, mopeds and motorcycles.
Red, yellow, green and flashing signals, dark signals treated as stop signs, regulatory, prohibitory, warning, work zone, guide and route signs, white and yellow line rules, the two-way left turn lane and crosswalks.
Ohio's speed limits from alleys to rural freeways and the assured-clear-distance rule, who yields to whom, the six places you must stop, steering and backing, right and left turns, turns on red, and how to use a roundabout.
Driving on the right, changing lanes, entering and leaving a freeway, how and when to pass and where passing is banned, stopping 15 to 50 feet from the tracks, the school bus stop law on roads with fewer than four lanes and four or more, and where you may never stop or park.
Ohio's 25/50/25 minimum insurance and when to prove it, BAC limits of .08, .04 and .02, Administrative License Suspension for failing or refusing a test, OVUAC for drivers under 21, the 6- and 12-point letters and suspensions, probationary suspensions under 18, driving under suspension, riding in cargo areas and the child safety seat and booster law.
What to do when pulled over, when headlights are required, night and fog driving, winter skids, orange work zones, the 20-to-30-second visual search, curves, slippery roads and hydroplaning, perception and reaction time, the four-second rule, space cushions, horn and signal use, and preventing heatstroke in parked cars.
Yielding to pedestrians and blind pedestrians, giving motorcycles a full lane and four seconds, the three-foot bicycle passing rule, truck No Zones and stopping distances, the Move Over law, passing slow-moving vehicles, skids and dark signals, brake, accelerator and tire failures, and what to do after a crash.