Okay so I'm a little embarrassed to admit this but I failed the Alabama DMV written exam twice before I finally got my act together. The first time I literally showed up having read maybe half the handbook and thought I could wing it. Big mistake. Second time I read the whole thing but didn't actually practice any questions and blanked on road signs completely. Got a 68 both times — you need a 76 to pass.
What finally worked for me was finding a decent AL DMV practice test online and doing it over and over until I was consistently hitting 85+. I also went through a study guide that broke things down by topic instead of just reading the handbook front to back like a novel. Took me about a week of 20-30 minutes a day and I passed with an 82 on my third attempt.
For anyone else struggling, the road signs section is brutal if you haven't actually memorized them. Also the right-of-way scenarios — those tripped me up more than anything. Anyone else have specific sections they found harder than expected?