Alcohol, Distraction, Drowsiness and Sharing the Road: Any Drug Counts, the 0.00 Percent Limit Under 21, Marijuana and Medicines, Only Time Sobers You, Implied Consent and the One-Year Refusal Penalty, Headphones, Phones for Permit and Probationary Drivers, Pets and Mirror Clutter, Signs of Drowsiness, Pedestrians and Sidewalks, Emergency Vehicles and the Move Over Law, Stopping 20 Feet From a School Bus, Motorcycles, Three Feet for Bicycles, Bicycle Hand Signals and Truck No-Zones
Written for aiforu2 as the source for a practice-test bank and the on-device tutor for the Wisconsin knowledge test. The facts follow the official manual; the wording is ours.
Source: Wisconsin Motorists' Handbook (WisDOT DMV, BDS126, 2026 edition), Section 9 "Dangerous Driving Behaviors" (pages 49–50) and Section 10 "Sharing the Road" (pages 51–52).
Alcohol and drugs
Alcohol, drugs and other substances change how you think and decide and make it hard to judge the distance, speed and movement of other vehicles. Driving under the influence of any drug, prescription or not, is illegal. For a driver under 21 the legal alcohol concentration is 0.00 percent: none at all. Any amount of a controlled substance counts as operating impaired, and marijuana users make more driving mistakes. Check medication labels for side effects; "do not operate heavy machinery" includes a car. Get a ride from a sober friend or have the bartender call a cab, because time is the only thing that sobers you up.
Under implied consent, if an officer asks you to take a prohibited alcohol concentration (PAC) test by breath or blood, you must agree. Refusing means arrest for violating the implied consent law, loss of driving privileges for at least one year, and other consequences.
Distraction
Keep your eyes on the road. Do not drive with headsets or headphones covering or in both ears, and keep the radio low enough to hear sirens. Avoid answering the phone; pull over when it is safe if you must use it. Instruction permit and probationary holders may use a phone only to report an emergency; regular license holders should avoid phone use and use the hands-free option if they must. Pull over to read directions, eat only while parked, keep pets in a carrier or held by a passenger, and do not hang things from the mirror or clutter the windows with decals.
Drowsiness
Drowsy driving comes from too little sleep, an untreated sleep disorder or a long work shift, and teens and young adults are at greater risk. Sleep well before a drive, and pull over to rest if you are yawning or blinking a lot, drifting from your lane, or hitting the rumble strip.
Sharing the road
More distance means more time to react. Do not drive alongside others on multi-lane roads; move ahead or drop back, leave extra room beside parked vehicles, and stay out of other drivers' blind spots. Children and others may dart into the road, so allow extra room for pedestrians, confused drivers and people who cannot see you; driving on a sidewalk is illegal except to cross it.
When you see emergency lights and hear sirens, pull to the side and stop until the vehicle passes, never stopping in the middle of an intersection. Approaching an emergency vehicle stopped with its lights flashing, move into the lane not nearest it and stay there until you are past. When a police car is stopped at the roadside with lights and siren on, move over or slow down; it is the law.
When a school bus is stopped with its red lights flashing, stop at least 20 feet from it, whether it is on your side of the road or the other, watch for children, and go only when the red lights stop flashing. On a divided highway, with a barrier between the directions, you need not stop when the bus is on the other side.
Motorcycles are light and can stop faster than most vehicles, so leave extra room when following one, check your blind spots before moving, and wait until it is safe to pass. Bicyclists may use the whole lane and may not be shared with; they can move into your path suddenly, so wait for oncoming traffic to clear before passing and give at least three feet of room. Bicycles should carry reflectors or lights but some do not. Bicycle hand signals: arm straight out for a left turn, either the right arm out or the left elbow bent upward for a right turn, and the arm pointed down for a stop. Large trucks have No-Zones where they cannot see you, about 200 feet behind and 20 feet in front; speed up or drop back so the driver can see you, and get through a truck's blind spot quickly when passing.
Practise this with Wisconsin Driver License questions
More of this guide
The 20/40 vision standard, the 15-question signs test and 50-question knowledge test, required documents, sponsorship, the instruction permit's supervising-driver rules, the 50 practice hours, the nine-month GDL restrictions, renewal every eight years, points, habitual offenders, occupational licenses, seat belts, child seats and insurance.
Who you yield to, the four-second rule, the 25, 15 and 35 mph default limits, merging, seeing 10 to 15 seconds ahead, mirrors every six to eight seconds, tailgaters, left turns with the wheels straight, U-turns, the Y-turn, passing and blind spots, backing, hill and parallel parking, headlights and hand signals.
Warning, regulatory, construction, destination, service, mile-marker, route and railroad signs as the Wisconsin handbook presents them, with the doubled work-zone fines, the 25 mph slow-moving vehicle triangle, reserved parking, and what to do at gates and flashing lights.
Every signal light and arrow, turning right and left on red, dark signals, white and yellow line rules and their exceptions, shared center, reversible, reserved and flex lanes, one- and two-lane roundabouts, metered ramps, the diverging diamond, traffic stops, deer and funeral processions.
Bald tires, reduced visibility, bridges that freeze first, pumping non-ABS brakes, hydroplaning, skidding, the winter checklist and snowplows, farm equipment and livestock, stopping, turning or speeding up to avoid a crash, what to do after a crash and when to report it, and roadside failures.