What is the default speed limit on a motorway in Ireland?
Motorways carry the highest default limit in the State at 120 km/h. A lower limit applies wherever it is signposted, such as through roadworks.
Rules of the Road, ch. 2Car · Category BW
Car, Tractor & Work Vehicles theory test
Cars, tractors and work vehicles.
40
questions45 minutes
to answer them35 of 40 (88%)
to passCar practice questions
Sample questions from the car theory test, each with its answer and the reason behind it. Read them here; practise properly — a session at a time, until the weak topics stop being weak — in the app.
12 sample questions
1 of 12
The kind of questions the car test asks, written the way it asks them. Pick an answer and the reason appears — read it even when you were right, because that is what makes the next one easy.
What is the default speed limit on a rural local road (an L road)?
The default on rural local roads was reduced from 80 km/h to 60 km/h in February 2025. These are the narrow, often unlined roads signed with an L number.
Rules of the Road, ch. 2What is the default speed limit on a regional road (an R road)?
Regional roads default to 80 km/h. They sit between national roads and local roads in the network, and are signed with an R number.
Rules of the Road, ch. 2What is the default speed limit in a built-up area?
The built-up-area default is 50 km/h. Many councils are lowering this to 30 km/h in housing estates, town centres and outside schools by bye-law, so watch for the signs.
Rules of the Road, ch. 2What is the default speed limit on a national road that is not a motorway?
National primary and national secondary roads default to 100 km/h. They are signed with an N number on a green background.
Rules of the Road, ch. 2A speed-limit sign shows a number in a red circle on a white background. What does the number mean?
It is a maximum, not a target. Irish limits are always in kilometres per hour, and you must still drive more slowly whenever conditions require it.
Rules of the Road, ch. 2You are driving at the posted speed limit in heavy fog. Are you driving legally?
A speed limit is a ceiling, never a licence. Driving without reasonable consideration is an offence even at or below the posted limit.
Rules of the Road, ch. 2Who sets a special speed limit that differs from the default for a stretch of road?
Local authorities set special speed limits through bye-laws — that is how a 30 km/h zone outside a school or a 60 km/h zone on a busy regional road comes about.
Rules of the Road, ch. 2What shape is a STOP sign in Ireland?
The octagon is used for nothing else, so the sign is recognisable even when it is dirty, faded or partly hidden.
Rules of the Road, ch. 7What must you do at a STOP sign?
A full stop is required every time, even on an empty road. Rolling through a stop line is an offence and carries penalty points.
Rules of the Road, ch. 7What shape is a YIELD sign?
The inverted triangle with a red border means give way to traffic on the road you are joining. You need not stop if the way is clear.
Rules of the Road, ch. 7A circular sign with a red border and a red diagonal bar over a black car means what?
A red circle is always a prohibition. Overtaking is banned from the sign until an end-of-prohibition sign or the next junction.
Rules of the Road, ch. 7Written by us for practice. They are not the official examination questions.No practice app has those — and the Rules of the Road is the final word on any of it.
In the app
Twelve questions here. The whole car bank in the app.
A page can ask you a few questions. Passing takes doing that over and over, against the topics you keep getting wrong — which is the part the app is built for.
1
Say what you want to practise
One sheet decides the whole session, so you never sit through questions you already know.
A topic on its own — roundabouts, speed limits, signs — or everything mixed
Only the ones you have never tried, or only the ones you got wrong before
Five questions on a bus, or forty with the clock running
2
Answer, and find out why
Every answer is followed by the reason for it, with the part of the Rules of the Road it comes from.
Marked as you go, or held back to the end like the real exam
Say your answer out loud when your hands are busy
Flag anything to come back to, and have it read aloud
3
See which topics are letting you down
Every topic carries how much of it you have seen and how much of that you got right, and the list sorts itself worst-first on request.
A bar per topic: red where you are weak, green where you are done
"My mistakes" builds a session out of everything you have got wrong
Nothing to tick off by hand — it is counted as you answer
4
Know when you are actually ready
Not a feeling, and not a percentage invented to flatter you: three signals drawn from how the real test is marked, and a plain-words insight worked out from them.
Seen 80% of the bank, passed your last three mocks, no topic under 70%
A countdown to your test date with how many questions a day that leaves
Told plainly when you are not there yet — before you pay €45 to find out