What's on the test
The questions come from the Maine Driver's License Manual. They cover these areas; each links to free practice questions on it:
- Signs, signals & markingsTraffic lights, lane-use lights, warning and work zone signs, lane lines.
- Turns, passing & parkingSteering, turns, roundabouts, expressways, school buses and parking.
- Sharing the roadPedestrians, bicyclists, motorcycles, trucks and emergency vehicles.
- Space, emergencies & weatherFollowing distance, speed limits, skids, breakdowns, winter, moose.
- OUI, phones & seat beltsMaine's OUI law, implied consent, phone rules, belts and child seats.
- Permits & licensesThe learner's permit, the 270-day limits, points and suspensions.
A study plan in five steps
Read the Maine Driver's License Manual
Everything on the test is in it. Read it chapter by chapter, slowly, and come back to the parts you find hard:
- Your Driver's License
- State Laws and Rules: Owning a Vehicle
- Ready to Drive: Vision, Fatigue and Distractions
- Ready to Drive: Phones, Alcohol and Drugs
- Before You Drive
- Getting Started
- Rules of the Road: Right-of-Way and Signals
- Rules of the Road: Signs, Markings and Lanes
- General Driving: Turns, Intersections and Expressways
- General Driving: Passing, School Buses and Parking
- Managing Time and Space: Seeing and Speed
- Managing Time and Space: Space and Communicating
- Avoiding Crashes
- Sharing the Road
- Special Driving Challenges
Practice one topic at a time
After each chapter, practice that topic. You see the right answer and why straight away, with the handbook page to reread.
Learn the road signs
Signs are quick points once you know them by shape and color. Study the signs one at a time, then test yourself on 20.
Fix your weak spots
Your practice results are saved on your device. Practice my weak spots builds a round from the topics you miss most.
Take the full practice exam
The full exam works like the real one: 30 questions, 24 to pass, no answers until the end. Keep going until you pass comfortably several times in a row, then review every question you missed.
Before test day
Permit at 15
You can get a learner's permit at 15 by passing the vision screening and the written knowledge test. Under 18, you also take an approved driver education course. (Maine Driver's License Manual, p. 1-2)
An adult 20 or older beside you
On a permit, drive only with a licensed driver who is at least 20, has held a license for 2 years, and sits in the seat next to you. (Maine Driver's License Manual, p. 1-2)
70 hours and 6 months
Under 21, hold the permit for 6 months and log 70 hours of driving (10 at night) before the road test. (Maine Driver's License Manual, p. 1-3)
270 days of limits
A new driver under 18 can't use a phone, can't drive from midnight to 5 a.m., and carries only family unless a qualified adult rides along, for 270 days after the road test. (Maine Driver's License Manual, p. 1-4)
Four seconds back
Maine teaches a following distance of at least four seconds, with more on slick roads, at night and behind motorcycles, trucks and trailers. (Maine Driver's License Manual, p. 8-11 to 8-12)
Zero alcohol under 21
Under 21, driving with any amount of alcohol in your body costs your license for at least a year; from 21, 0.08 is the OUI limit. (Maine Driver's License Manual, p. 3-14)
More answers: Maine permit test FAQ. Applying for the first time? How to get your Maine permit.
This guide is a free study aid, not the official test. Rules and fees can change: always check the current Maine Driver's License Manual and the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), Department of the Secretary of State before your test.Page numbers are the ones printed on the handbook pages: section, then page (6-1 is page 1 of section 6); tap one to open the official PDF at that page.