Driving Tips, Alcohol, Drugs, DUI, Violations and Penalties: Dimming at 1,000 and 600 Feet and Lights From 30 Minutes After Sunset, Standard Transmissions and the Coasting Violation, Posture and a Grip With a Third of the Wheel Between Your Hands, Carbon Monoxide Symptoms and Prevention, Insurance Papers Out of State, the Three Distractions and the 2015 Texting Ban, Permit Holders and Hand-Held Devices, Never Swerving for an Animal, the Emergency Kit, Oklahoma's Traffic Facts, Flood Dynamics and Two Feet of Water, Seven Duties After a Crash, How Drugs and Alcohol Impair, Implied Consent and Automatic Revocation, 0.05 as Evidence and 0.08 as DUI, Penalties From 10 Days to 10 Years, Revocations of 180 Days to 2 Years, Marijuana and Amphetamines, Zero Tolerance Under 21, Court Notice for Drivers Under 18, Fake IDs, the Three-Year Record, the Compliance Division, Mandatory Revocation, the 10-Point System and Point Reduction

Written for aiforu2 as the source for a practice-test bank and the on-device tutor for the Oklahoma Class D driver license written test. The facts follow the official manual; the wording is ours.

Source: Oklahoma Driver Manual (Service Oklahoma, November 2025), Chapter 11 "Driving Tips" (pages 59–63), Chapter 12 "Alcohol, Drugs and Driving" (pages 64–67) and Chapter 13 "Violations and Penalties" (pages 69–72).

Headlights, transmissions, posture and carbon monoxide

Headlights help you see and help others see you. Dim high beams within 1,000 feet of an oncoming vehicle and within 600 feet of a vehicle you follow; use headlights when a sign requires them and from 30 minutes after sunset to 30 minutes before sunrise; use high beams in open country with no other cars near, at a slower speed than by day; and use low beams under streetlights and in fog, rain, snow or other adverse weather. With a standard transmission you can use the gears rather than the brakes to slow: hold the clutch fully down when starting, shifting and when speed drops below 10 mph coming to a stop; do not ride the clutch; coordinate clutch and accelerator smoothly; never coast in neutral or with the clutch down except while shifting; use a lower gear down steep hills; and coasting down a grade with the clutch disengaged or in neutral violates Title 47, section 11-1107. Good posture means comfort, alignment, the right distance from wheel and pedals and full use of the mirrors: adjust the seat to reach the pedals and see well, set the rearview mirror to show the road behind, check the left outside mirror, keep the front seat clear of anything that could fall, fasten the belt, and grip the wheel solidly with at least one-third of the wheel between your hands, the left generally between 9:00 and 10:30 and the right between 2:00 and 4:00; never drive with your elbow out the window, which costs control and could cost the arm in a sideswipe. Carbon monoxide from the engine cannot be seen, smelled or tasted and can kill; it leaks in most readily with the heater running, a faulty exhaust system, or in heavy traffic breathing others' exhaust, and a bad exhaust can leak fumes into the back seat where children sit or sleep. Symptoms are drowsiness or dizziness, lights seeming brighter, blue skin and lips, and a tightening forehead; pull off, park, turn off the motor, open the windows and rest or walk until you feel better, and a passenger overcome may need artificial respiration or medical care. Prevent it by having the exhaust checked regularly, listening for an unusual roar under the car, never running the engine in a closed garage, closing the fresh-air vent in congested traffic and opening it on highways in cold weather. Before an out-of-state trip, carry a physical copy of your insurance and registration as Oklahoma law requires.

Distraction, animals, the emergency kit, floods and crashes

Oklahoma law requires your full attention on the road, and distracted driving endangers you, your passengers, pedestrians and bicyclists. The three categories are visual (eyes off the road), manual (hands off the wheel) and cognitive (mind off driving); in 2014 alone more than 3,000 people were killed and 431,000 injured nationally in distracted-driving crashes, which include eating and drinking, talking to passengers, fiddling with the stereo and texting. Phone tips: pull off before calling whenever possible; never unbuckle to reach a phone; use memory and voice dialing; do not let the phone distract you; do not eat, drink, light a cigarette, read or write while talking and driving; keep calls short; let a passenger handle calls; and know your limits. Since 2015 texting while driving is illegal in Oklahoma, and commercial and public transit drivers may not make hand-held calls. In 2009 ten fatal crashes involved a driver distracted by an electronic device, and a learner permit or intermediate license holder can be suspended or canceled for using a hand-held device while driving except in a life-threatening emergency. If an animal runs in front of you, do not swerve, which can cause a worse crash than hitting it; reduce the risk by extra caution at dawn and dusk when animals are most active, alertness where animal crossing signs are posted, scanning the roadsides for the reflection of your headlights in animals' eyes, remembering deer crashes peak from October to December, and slowing near an animal standing by the road. An emergency kit reduces the delay of a breakdown: a flashlight with good batteries, an inflated spare and jack, oil for lug nuts, rags, a phone, water, a blanket, an adjustable wrench, flares, jumper cables, a heavy-duty lug wrench, a windshield sunscreen or "send help" sign, a tarp, a tire gauge and screwdrivers, a first-aid kit, bungee cord or rope, and candles and matches. Oklahoma has more than 750 troopers protecting some 2.48 million licensed drivers on nearly 112,000 miles of road, from turnpikes to dirt roads and from flat panhandle highways to the winding curves of Green Country, shared with 3.8 million registered vehicles and nearly 97,000 motorcycles; take breaks on long trips to avoid fatigue. Water weighs about 62.4 pounds per cubic foot and flows at 6 to 12 mph; when a car stalls in it, each foot of rise applies 500 pounds of sideways force and displaces 1,500 pounds of water, making the car effectively 1,500 pounds lighter per foot, so most vehicles, even SUVs, float in just 2 feet of water. Cars stall easily and are carried away in any current; most are swept away by less than two feet of running water; never try to cross a flooded road or stream; never drive around barricades at low-water crossings; be especially careful at night and on unfamiliar roads; never drive into or across flowing water; heed water-level markers, remembering six inches of water can cost you control; expect roadbeds washed away beneath the surface; and if you abandon the vehicle, respect the water, since six inches of fast water can knock you off your feet: turn around, don't drown. After a collision with death, injury or property damage, stay calm: stop and call 911 or local law enforcement; turn on the hazard lights; get help for anyone hurt but never move an injured person unless life depends on it; move a vehicle blocking traffic after a minor crash; exchange vehicle, witness and driver information, name, address, phone, license, registration number and insurance; take photos; and neither blame nor accept blame nor discuss the accident, but wait for officers and answer truthfully and calmly. If you hit a parked car or property and cannot find the owner, leave the driver's and owner's names and addresses and the insurance verification details where the owner will find them; the investigating officer files a report, and you contact your insurer as soon as possible.

Alcohol, drugs and the law

Mind-altering drugs such as alcohol, marijuana, tranquilizers, antidepressants, speed and meth change how you see and react, and many prescription and over-the-counter drugs for colds, hay fever, pain and dieting slow reaction, cause dizziness or nervousness and impair concentration and vision. The same drug affects each person, and the same person at different times, differently, depending on weight, emotional state, heart and breathing rate, food, sleep and tolerance, and even a small amount reduces your ability to judge a situation, decide and act; mixing drugs multiplies the harm, especially with alcohol, and can bring serious illness or death. Alcohol moves quickly from the stomach into the blood and throughout the body, affecting judgment almost immediately, so you do not know you have had too much until too late; it slows reflexes and reaction time, blurs vision and dulls alertness, and as the amount rises you lose the ability to judge distance, speed and other vehicles' movement and to control the car. It is not what you drink but how much: a 12-ounce beer, a 5-ounce glass of wine and a cocktail with 1.5 ounces of 80-proof spirits hold the same alcohol. Alcohol causes about a quarter of highway deaths, and more young people are crippled and killed by drinking and driving than by any other cause; Oklahoma has strengthened its laws and enforcement, and an arrest stays on your record for life. Under implied consent, driving or being in actual physical control of a vehicle means you have agreed to tests of your blood alcohol content, resident or not; refusing an officer's request brings automatic revocation even if you have not been drinking, and a result of 0.08 or more, or any measurable amount under 21, revokes your license even without a court conviction, for 180 days to 2 years depending on your record. Whether a test shows legal intoxication is not the real issue, since impairment begins well below the limit and an officer's observations can convict you without a test; driving while impaired by any substance is prohibited, and a concentration above 0.05 is relevant evidence of impairment, punishable on conviction by a fine of $100 to $500, up to six months in jail or both, with Service Oklahoma suspending the privilege 30 days for a first suspension, six months for a second and one year for a third. DUI, driving under the influence of drugs, alcohol or both, means imprisonment and a fine on a conviction based on a BAC of 0.08 or more, any measurable amount under 21, or the officer's observations: a first offense is a misdemeanor with 10 days to one year in jail and a fine up to $1,000; a second within 10 years is a felony with one to five years and up to $2,500; a second felony offense brings one to seven years and up to $5,000; and a third or later offense one to 10 years and up to $5,000. On notice of a DUI conviction Service Oklahoma also suspends or revokes the privilege, unless already revoked for refusing or failing the test in the same incident, for 180 days on a first revocation, one year with a prior DUI or drug revocation within 10 years, and two years with two or more; other costs include lawyers, lost work time, alternative transportation, court costs, an alcohol and drug substance abuse evaluation (ADSAC), an ignition interlock device, reinstatement fees, higher insurance, the stigma of being a drunk driver, and for a felony lasting harm to loans, college admission and scholarships. Other drugs can impair more than alcohol and combine fatally with it; check labels for drowsiness or nervousness, remembering diet and pep pills give brief alertness followed by nervousness, dizziness, poor concentration and distorted vision, and ask a pharmacist or doctor; marijuana users make more driving mistakes, struggle with glare and are arrested more, and although cannabis is legal for some medical uses, driving with any detectable level is illegal; drivers on amphetamines are four times as likely to crash. Under zero tolerance, anyone under 21 who drives or is in actual physical control with any measurable alcohol in blood or breath, shows evidence of any other intoxicant, or shows their combined influence, is revoked for six months on a first DUI, physical control, refusal or measurable-alcohol offense and 12 months on a second, with a cancellation extended to age 16 for anyone younger, plus a fine of $100 to $500, community service or treatment for a first conviction and $100 to $1,000 for later ones. For anyone under 18 a court must notify Service Oklahoma of any offense involving alcohol or a controlled or other mind-affecting substance, after which the license is canceled or denied for six months, one year, or two years or until age 21, whichever is longer, at the court's discretion.

Violations, records, points and revocation

If your license is suspended or revoked you cannot apply for a new one until reinstated and cannot legally drive, and driving while suspended is a serious crime. Your license is state property and may not be used to misrepresent yourself or lent to anyone; fake IDs fuel underage drinking, and your card can be canceled for lending it, holding one with altered birth date, expiration, sex, height, eye color, weight or number, refusing to surrender a suspended, revoked or canceled card, permitting its unlawful use, manufacturing a license or the plates to print one, possessing a counterfeit or fictitious card or one with a forged name or another person's photo, presenting a card not your own to commit fraud or mislead an officer, or using a false name on an application; using, carrying, borrowing or buying a fake ID is a felony with up to seven years in prison and a $10,000 fine, and an issuer who knowingly licenses someone not entitled commits a felony. Your driving record holds some collisions and every Oklahoma or out-of-state conviction, follows you to another state, and a three-year copy costs $25 by records request, free over 65. Careless or unlawful drivers, and those whose substance abuse or physical condition affects driving, may be called to a Compliance Hearing; the Compliance Division offers self-improvement and safer driving, a Medical Advisory Committee of doctors sets physical, emotional and mental standards, a safety course may be required, and when improvement fails the privilege is suspended or canceled. A license issued under 18 is probationary and may be canceled or suspended for any moving violation. State law requires revocation for six months to three years on conviction of manslaughter or negligent homicide with a vehicle, DUI or physical control while intoxicated (with no extra term if already revoked under implied consent for the same incident), any felony using a vehicle, leaving the scene of an injury or death collision without rendering aid, perjury or a false statement to obtain a license or in any vehicle matter, any drug conviction while using a vehicle, or under 21 driving with any measurable alcohol. Under the mandatory point system everyone starts at zero, each pointable conviction adds points, and 10 or more points within five years suspends the license: violating a license restriction 2; reckless driving 4; careless driving 2; speeding 2; speeding more than 25 mph over the limit 3; failing to stop or remain stopped for a loading school bus 4; following too closely 2; disobeying a stop sign or signal 2; failing to yield 2; driving left of center or the wrong way on a one-way 2; operating a defective vehicle 1; and all other violations 1. Two points come off for each 12 months without a pointable conviction, the total drops to zero after three clean years, and two points come off for completing an approved driver compliance or defensive driving course, credited once every 24 months, never below zero. The insurance law bears repeating: at least $25,000 for injury or death of one person, $50,000 for two or more and $25,000 for property damage per accident; show proof to any officer or Service Oklahoma representative who asks and to everyone involved in a collision, or face a fine up to $250, 30 days in jail or both plus suspension of license and registration. Driver testing facilities across the state are listed at service.ok.gov, and Service Oklahoma must always have your current address, since failing to update it can bring a suspension you never learn of.

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