In Ohio your first permit is the Temporary Instruction Permit Identification Card (TIPIC), usually called your temps. To get it you pass the BMV knowledge test and a vision screening. This guide explains the test and how to prepare.
What is on the test
- 40 multiple-choice questions on Ohio motor vehicle laws and traffic signs.
- Pass mark: 75%, which is 30 correct. You can miss up to 10.
- You can take it from age 15 years and 6 months.
- You can take it online at home or in person. See taking the Ohio temps test online.
A study plan that works
- Read the Digest of Ohio Motor Vehicle Laws. The questions are based on it. It is free on the Ohio BMV website.
- Learn the signs by shape and colour, then each sign on the Ohio road signs tab.
- Take a full 40-question mock test early. The free Ohio mock tests on PassDriveTest use the same length.
- Review every wrong answer and find the rule in the Digest.
- Learn the numbers: speed limits in school zones and residential areas, following distances, blood alcohol limits (0.02 under 21), and the permit and probationary license rules.
- Aim for 36 or more on several different mock tests before you test. Online, you only get two tries in six months.
Topics that catch people out
- Temps rules: under 16 you must drive with a parent, guardian or licensed driving instructor in the front passenger seat; from 16, a licensed driver aged 21 or older may ride with you instead. Under 18, no driving from midnight to 6 a.m. unless a parent, guardian or custodian with a valid license is with you.
- School buses stopped with red lights flashing, and when you must stop on a divided road.
- Move over for stopped emergency, road crew and tow vehicles with flashing lights.
- Right of way at four-way stops, yield signs and when turning left.
After you pass
Within 60 days of passing, go to a deputy registrar license agency to buy your temps. You do the vision screening there. Teens must hold the temps for at least 6 months, complete driver education and log 50 hours of driving (10 at night) before the road test for a probationary license.
Take a free Ohio mock test to see where you stand.
Checked against official sources on 17 October 2026.