Before You Drive and Basic Driving: Tires, Seat, Mirrors, Belts, Air Bags, Child Seats, Loads, Driver Assistance, Steering and Backing: Monthly Tire Pressure Against the Door Sticker, the Penny Test, Sitting Upright With 10 Inches From the Wheel, Head Restraints, Setting the Mirrors, the Primary Safety Belt Law, Wearing the Belt, Air Bags as Supplements, Child Seats From Rear-Facing to 57 Inches, Children Seven and Younger in Back, Securing a Load, ADAS Features and Their Limits, Starting and Moving, Hand-to-Hand, Hand-Over-Hand and One-Hand Steering and Backing Up
Written for aiforu2 as the source for a practice-test bank and the on-device tutor for the South Carolina beginner's permit knowledge test. The facts follow the official manual; the wording is ours.
Source: South Carolina Driver's Manual (SCDMV, AAMVA-based, March 2026 file), Section 4 "Before You Drive" (pages 4-1 to 4-10) and Section 5 "Basic Driving" (pages 5-1 to 5-6).
Tires
You cannot control other drivers, but you can maintain your vehicle and tires; under-inflated, over-inflated or worn tires cause preventable crashes. Check pressure monthly with a gauge, when the tires are cold, against the PSI on the sticker inside the driver's door frame, letting air out if the gauge reads higher and adding air if lower. Check tread with a penny: put Lincoln's head first into the deepest-looking groove, and if you can see all of his head the tires are too worn to drive on and must be replaced.
Seat and mirrors
Sit upright with your back against the seat and feet on the floor; slouching weakens the restraint system. Adjust the seat and mirrors before driving so you see clearly, control the pedals and wheel, and leave room for the air bag: your foot should pivot from brake to accelerator with the heel on the floor, the top of the wheel no higher than your shoulders, at least 10 inches between chest and wheel, no reclining, and the head restraint touching the back of your head, not below ear level. The inside rearview mirror is the primary rear view; frame the rear window with it and set a day/night mirror for the time of day. Set the outside mirrors to cut blind spots: for the left mirror rest your head against the left window and adjust until the rear edge of the car barely shows; for the right mirror lean until your head is under the rearview mirror or above the console and adjust until the right edge barely shows. You will not see the car's sides in a glance, but this adds 12 to 16 degrees of view on each side.
Safety belts and air bags
Always fasten your belt and make sure passengers use belts or child restraints; belts greatly cut injury and death, keep you from being thrown out and help you keep control. South Carolina has a primary belt law: an officer with a clear view of an unbelted driver or occupant, or an unrestrained child, may stop the vehicle. Wear the shoulder harness across the shoulder and chest with little slack, never under the arm or behind the back, which can cause serious internal injuries, and the lap belt snug and low across the hips so you cannot slide out. Belts are worn even with air bags, which are supplements designed to work with belts to keep your head and upper body off the interior; read the owner's manual about your air bags.
Child passenger safety
Install and use child seats properly and never put a rear-facing seat in front of an air bag. Children seven and younger must ride in a car seat in the back seat to avoid air bag injuries. An infant under two rides rear-facing in a rear seat until exceeding the seat's height or weight limit; a child at least two, or a younger child who has outgrown rear-facing, rides forward-facing in a rear seat until outgrowing that seat; a child at least four who has outgrown the forward-facing seat uses a booster in a rear seat, secured with lap and shoulder belts, until meeting the height and fit requirements for an adult belt; and a child at least eight or at least 57 inches tall may use an adult belt if it fits properly.
Securing your load
Driving with an unsecured load is illegal and dangerous, a misdemeanor with a fine and cleanup costs. A load is secure only when nothing can slide, shift, fall, sift onto the road or blow away: tie it down with rope, netting or straps to the vehicle or trailer, consider a sturdy tarp or net over everything, do not overload, double-check, and secure animals too. Ask whether anything could fall or blow off, whether the load is secured at the back, sides and top, what would happen in a sudden stop, bump or collision, and whether you would feel safe driving behind your own vehicle.
Driver assistance systems
Many newer vehicles carry driver assistance features such as blind spot warning, backup cameras, forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane keeping and active parking assist, which sense conditions, warn you or even brake or steer. On the driving test you may not use features such as parking assist and cruise control. They assist; they do not drive. Stay engaged, do head checks and use mirrors and cameras, read the owner's manual, know each feature's limits, expect them to fail in rain, snow, ice, fog, hills and curves, keep sensors clean and undamaged and software current.
Starting, moving and stopping
Start with your right foot on the brake and the selector in park, turn the key or press the start button, and check the gauges and warning lights (fuel, oil, ABS, air bags). To move, shift to drive, check ahead and to the sides, behind and in the blind spots by looking over your shoulder, signal, and press the accelerator gently with the ball of your foot and heel on the floor. To stop, check the mirrors, move to the brake and press steadily.
Steering
Turn the wheel in the direction you want to go, forward or in reverse. Hold the outside of the wheel with both hands on opposite sides, firmly but gently, with your fingers rather than palms and thumbs up along the rim, never gripping the inside. Place the left hand at 7 to 9 o'clock and the right at 3 to 5; both hands stay on the wheel except when one must shift, work the wipers or give a hand signal. Practice on quiet rural roads first. Use hand-to-hand (push/pull) steering for normal driving above 10 to 15 mph: left hand between 7 and 8, right between 4 and 5, one hand pushes up while the other slides up, grasps and pulls down, working the wheel between 11 and 8 with the left hand and 1 and 8 with the right; the hands never cross the wheel, which reduces muscle strain, lane weaving and the risk of injury from a driver's air bag, and 10 and 2 is not recommended for that reason. Use hand-over-hand steering at low speeds such as intersections and parking, left hand at 8 to 9 and right at 3 to 4, using the top third of the wheel. Use one-hand steering only when backing or briefly reaching for a control, keeping the other hand at 8-9 or 3-4; 12 o'clock is recommended only when backing while turned in the seat to see behind.
Backing up
Check behind the vehicle before getting in, since children and small objects are invisible from the seat; foot on the brake, shift to reverse, left hand at 12 o'clock, right arm over the passenger seat and look directly through the rear window; glance at the mirrors and camera occasionally, remembering mirrors miss the area right behind you; accelerate gently and keep it slow because the vehicle steers poorly in reverse; steer slightly toward where the rear should go, glance front and sides when turning, and keep looking back until fully stopped.
Practise this with South Carolina Driver License questions
More of this guide
License classes D through M and the CDLs, documents, the beginner's permit and its 180-day and 30-day holding periods, the 40 practice hours, the conditional and special restricted licenses and the waiver, the skills test vehicle and maneuvers, retest waits, moving in and out of state, renewal, the point system, the defensive driving course, reinstatement and route-restricted licenses.
The 20/40 vision standard and lens restriction, when vision is screened, sleep and the 100-mile rule, distractions and the Hands-Free Act with its $100 and $200 fines, aggressive behaviors, alcohol in 40 percent of fatal crashes, zero tolerance under 21, how alcohol impairs, DUI, DUAC, 0.15 and implied consent, drugs, emotions and the self-check for older drivers.
Who you yield to and the first-car and same-time rules, green, yellow, red and flashing signals and turning on red, warning signs, railroad signs and the blue emergency sign, work zone signs and flaggers, regulatory signs, stop and yield, the shared center lane, guide, route, secondary and evacuation route signs, yellow and white lines, crosswalks and stop lines.
Right and left turn positions, two-point and three-point turnabouts, left-right-left at intersections, never trusting a turn signal, the diverging diamond and the RCUT, roundabouts, when you must stop for a school bus and when you need not, disability spaces, 18 inches from the curb, angle, perpendicular and parallel parking, hills, ramps, passing steps and bans, being passed and the zipper merge.
Looking 20 to 30 seconds ahead, slowing before curves, hydroplaning, flooded roads and the six-inch and two-foot rules, perception, reaction and braking distance, the four-second following distance and when to add more, space to the side and behind, headlights, the horn, signaling 100 feet, braking with ABS, steering and accelerating out of trouble, skids, drop-offs and vehicle malfunctions.
Yielding to pedestrians even outside crosswalks, stopping for white canes and guide dogs, bicyclists' rights, bike lanes and hand signals, a full lane and four seconds for motorcycles, the side, front and rear No Zones, 335 feet to stop a truck, wide right turns, what to do when police stop you, weapons and tickets, the Move-Over law and the orange triangle under 25 mph.
High beams that see twice as far, dimming at 500 feet and within 200 feet, low beams in fog, adding seconds at night, work zone injuries and slowing even with no workers, gravel, narrow roads, single-lane bridges, steel gratings and blind corners, bridges that freeze first, chains, rocking out of snow, ABS versus standard brakes, loading a trailer 60/40, sway, 55 mph and backing a trailer.