PA · STUDY GUIDE
DUI, Points & Penalties
Pennsylvania's three-tier DUI law, the point system, Paul Miller's Law, and the penalties that reach your license. This guide has 28 questions, each citing the PA manual section it comes from — the first 18 are free to read below.
1 · DISTRACTED DRIVING
A driving distraction is anything that causes you to take:
- ✓ Your attention from driving, eyes off the road, or hands off the wheel
- · Only your right hand off the wheel
- · Only your eyes off the speedometer
- · Only your mind off the destination
PennDOT defines distraction broadly to include visual, manual, and mental attention losses.
📖 PA Manual · Current online manual · Ch. 3 · Driver Factors (print PUB 95 pp. 32-34)2 · DISTRACTED DRIVING
Eating or drinking while driving can be dangerous because it often:
- ✓ Takes your hands from the wheel and eyes from the road
- · Improves alertness too much
- · Changes the speed limit
- · Disables turn signals
PennDOT lists eating and drinking among common distractions.
📖 PA Manual · Current online manual · Ch. 3 · Driver Factors (print PUB 95 pp. 32-34)3 · DISTRACTED DRIVING
Adjusting audio devices while driving is:
- ✓ A distraction that can reduce your ability to react
- · Always safe if the volume is low
- · Required at intersections
- · A substitute for mirror checks
Any control adjustment that pulls attention from driving increases risk.
📖 PA Manual · Current online manual · Ch. 3 · Driver Factors (print PUB 95 pp. 32-34)4 · DISTRACTED DRIVING
PennDOT notes that headphones or earpieces may be used for communication in:
- ✓ Only one ear
- · Both ears
- · Neither ear under any circumstance
- · Only the right ear by law
The manual notes a one-ear limitation for communication earpieces.
📖 PA Manual · Current online manual · Ch. 3 · Driver Factors (print PUB 95 pp. 32-34)5 · DISTRACTED DRIVING
Teen drivers are more likely to crash when:
- ✓ Driving with teen passengers than when alone or with adult passengers
- · Driving with an adult passenger
- · Driving during daylight
- · Using a properly adjusted seat
Passenger interaction can be a major source of distraction for inexperienced drivers.
📖 PA Manual · Current online manual · Ch. 3 · Driver Factors (print PUB 95 pp. 32-34)6 · DISTRACTED DRIVING
Slowing to stare at a crash scene or work zone is called:
- ✓ Rubbernecking and is a distraction
- · Defensive scanning
- · Lane management
- · Gap selection
Looking away from the driving path to watch roadside events can cause crashes.
📖 PA Manual · Current online manual · Ch. 3 · Driver Factors (print PUB 95 pp. 32-34)7 · DISTRACTED DRIVING
Combing hair or applying makeup while driving is:
- ✓ A distraction
- · A safe use of red-light time
- · Allowed if using one hand
- · Recommended on long trips
Personal grooming takes attention and hands away from driving.
📖 PA Manual · Current online manual · Ch. 3 · Driver Factors (print PUB 95 pp. 32-34)8 · ALCOHOL AND DRUGS
A driver under 21 is considered DUI in Pennsylvania at a BAC of:
- ✓ 0.02% or greater
- · 0.05%
- · 0.08%
- · 0.10%
Pennsylvania applies a .02 BAC threshold to drivers under 21.
📖 PA Manual · Current online manual · Ch. 3 · Driver Factors (print PUB 95 pp. 32-34)9 · ALCOHOL AND DRUGS
For a driver age 21 or older, the per se DUI threshold is:
- ✓ 0.08% BAC
- · 0.02%
- · 0.04%
- · 0.10%
The adult per se DUI threshold is .08, though impairment can still support a DUI conviction at a lower BAC.
📖 PA Manual · Current online manual · Ch. 3 · Driver Factors (print PUB 95 pp. 32-34)10 · ALCOHOL AND DRUGS
PennDOT warns that even at a BAC of about 0.04%, an adult driver's crash risk is:
- ✓ Already higher than a driver with no alcohol
- · The same as zero BAC
- · Lower than zero BAC
- · Legally irrelevant and always safe
Driving ability can be impaired well below the legal limit.
📖 PA Manual · Current online manual · Ch. 3 · Driver Factors (print PUB 95 pp. 32-34)11 · ALCOHOL AND DRUGS
According to the manual, the only safe amount of alcohol to drink before driving is:
- ✓ Zero
- · One drink
- · Two drinks
- · Any amount below .08
PennDOT emphasizes that no one can drink and drive safely.
📖 PA Manual · Current online manual · Ch. 3 · Driver Factors (print PUB 95 pp. 32-34)12 · ALCOHOL AND DRUGS
PennDOT treats which as roughly one standard drink?
- ✓ 1.5 oz of 80-proof liquor
- · 3 oz of 80-proof liquor
- · 24 oz of regular beer
- · 10 oz of wine
The manual uses 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor, 12 ounces of regular beer, or 5 ounces of wine as comparable standard drinks.
📖 PA Manual · Current online manual · Ch. 3 · Driver Factors (print PUB 95 pp. 32-34)13 · ALCOHOL AND DRUGS
PennDOT treats approximately how much regular beer as one standard drink?
- ✓ 12 ounces
- · 4 ounces
- · 8 ounces
- · 24 ounces
A 12-ounce regular beer is one of the manual's standard-drink examples.
📖 PA Manual · Current online manual · Ch. 3 · Driver Factors (print PUB 95 pp. 32-34)14 · ALCOHOL AND DRUGS
PennDOT treats approximately how much wine as one standard drink?
- ✓ 5 ounces
- · 2 ounces
- · 10 ounces
- · 16 ounces
Five ounces of wine is one standard-drink example in the manual.
📖 PA Manual · Current online manual · Ch. 3 · Driver Factors (print PUB 95 pp. 32-34)15 · ALCOHOL AND DRUGS
For an average person, processing the alcohol in one standard drink takes at least about:
- ✓ One hour
- · 10 minutes
- · 20 minutes
- · 30 minutes
PennDOT explains that the body generally needs at least about an hour per standard drink.
📖 PA Manual · Current online manual · Ch. 3 · Driver Factors (print PUB 95 pp. 32-34)16 · ALCOHOL AND DRUGS
What actually lowers your BAC?
- ✓ Time
- · Coffee
- · A cold shower
- · Exercise
Coffee, caffeine, and cold showers do not remove alcohol from the bloodstream; only time lowers BAC.
📖 PA Manual · Current online manual · Ch. 3 · Driver Factors (print PUB 95 pp. 32-34)17 · ALCOHOL AND DRUGS
Before driving after taking medicine, you should:
- ✓ Check warnings and consider whether the drug can impair driving
- · Assume prescriptions never affect driving
- · Mix the medicine with caffeine
- · Drive only if the pill is over-the-counter
Prescription and over-the-counter medicines can impair reaction time, alertness, or judgment.
📖 PA Manual · Current online manual · Ch. 3 · Driver Factors (print PUB 95 pp. 32-34)18 · ALCOHOL AND DRUGS
Combining alcohol with drugs can:
- ✓ Increase impairment and make driving more dangerous
- · Cancel both effects
- · Lower BAC immediately
- · Guarantee alertness
Alcohol can interact with medicines and other drugs in dangerous and unpredictable ways.
📖 PA Manual · Current online manual · Ch. 3 · Driver Factors (print PUB 95 pp. 32-34)Tip: use your ← and → arrow keys
FullPass is an independent study aid. Questions are reviewed against the cited official PA driver's manual; the state licensing agency remains the final authority.