Maine’s permit test is given by the BMV, not a DMV. Warm up with 40 free questions on road signs, right-of-way, speed limits, OUI law and driving in moose country, each explained the moment you answer.
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Four rounds of 10 questions on Maine road signs, right-of-way, speed limits, parking, OUI and phone laws, winter and wildlife driving, and teen rules. A short explanation follows every answer.
Near an elementary school in Maine, you pass a five-sided yellow-green sign showing two children walking. Students are arriving for the morning. What is your speed limit?
Correct answer: 15 mph
Why
Maine drops school zones to 15 mph during recess, while students come and go (from half an hour before to half an hour after classes begin and end), and while school speed limit signs flash at opening or closing time. Fines for speeding there are doubled, so lift off the gas the moment you spot the five-sided sign.
Driving north, you reach a rural Maine crossroads with no signs or signals at the same moment as a car coming from the east, on your right. Who should yield?
Correct answer: You, because the other car is on your right
Why
Where nothing controls an intersection of public roads, Maine law has you give way to the vehicle approaching from your right. The same tiebreak settles a four-way stop when two cars arrive together. Catch the other driver’s eye before you move, because not everyone knows the rule.
Maine sets its own alcohol limit for drivers under 21. What is it?
Correct answer: 0.00%: no alcohol at all
Why
Maine has zero tolerance for young drivers: any alcohol in your system is a violation if you are under 21, and the first one costs your license for a year. For drivers 21 and older the OUI limit is 0.08%, and 0.04% behind the wheel of a commercial vehicle.
You are 15 and eager to start driving in Maine. What do you have to finish before you can apply for a learner’s permit?
Correct answer: A state-approved driver education course
Why
Fifteen is Maine’s permit age, but applicants from 15 to 17 must complete approved driver ed first: 30 hours in the classroom plus 10 behind the wheel. With the certificate in hand, you pass a vision screening and the 30-question written exam. Driver ed is not required at 18 or older.
On a Maine highway you pass an orange diamond-shaped sign, and a construction speed limit is posted for the work zone ahead. What happens if you are caught speeding there?
Correct answer: The fine is doubled
Why
Orange is the color of road work, and Maine charges twice the normal fine for speeding where a construction limit is posted. Lanes can shift and workers can step out with little warning, so slow down early and leave extra room around equipment.
Your car is parked nose-up on a steep Portland hill, right against the curb. To keep it from drifting into traffic, where should the front tires point?
Correct answer: To the left, away from the curb
Why
Turned left, the front tire catches the curb if the car starts to roll back. Facing downhill, or uphill where there is no curb, turn the wheels to the right so a rolling car heads off the road instead of into traffic. Set the parking brake every time.
It is a gray afternoon in Augusta, and a steady drizzle keeps your windshield wipers running nonstop. What does Maine law say about your headlights?
Correct answer: They must be on whenever the wipers run steadily
Why
Maine ties headlights to wipers: if the wipers run steadily, the headlights go on. They are also required from sunset to sunrise and any time weather or dim light keeps you from seeing people or vehicles 1,000 feet ahead. Lights in the rain are as much about being seen as about seeing.
Two lanes run your way on a divided highway, and you’re in the right one. Up ahead, a police car sits on the right shoulder with its lights flashing, and the left lane has room for you. What does Maine’s move-over law require?
Correct answer: Change to the lane that is not next to the police car
Why
When you can do it safely, Maine wants you in a lane that is not beside a stopped emergency vehicle; if you cannot move over, slow to a careful, safe speed. The rule also covers tow trucks, utility and trash trucks, and any vehicle stopped with its flashers on. The minimum fine is $275.
You have made a full stop at a steady red light in Portland, and no sign limits turns. Which move does Maine law let you make before the light changes?
Correct answer: A right turn, yielding to pedestrians and green-light traffic
Why
Maine’s signal law allows a right turn on a steady red after a complete stop unless a sign forbids it, and you still give way to people in the crosswalk and to cars moving on green. The statute makes no allowance for left turns on red, so wait for the green to go left.
You are in a crash in Maine. Nobody is hurt, but the visible damage looks like about $3,000. What must you do?
Correct answer: Report it to police at once, by the fastest means
Why
In Maine, a crash with an injury, a death or apparent damage of $2,000 or more has to be reported to police immediately, by the fastest way you have. Stop, swap information and help anyone who is hurt; leaving the scene of an injury crash is a crime. If you hit an unattended parked car, leave a note.
On a wooded Maine back road at dusk, a yellow diamond sign shows a leaping deer. According to the Maine Driver’s License Manual, in which month do crashes with deer peak?
Correct answer: November
Why
Deer are most active between dusk and dawn, and Maine’s deer collisions climb to their high point in November. Moose keep a different calendar: their crashes peak in May and June. When one deer crosses, slow down, give a blast of the horn and expect a second one to follow.
Your light turns green and you want to turn left, but there is no arrow. Heading your way are a car, a cyclist and a roller skier. Under Maine law, whom must you yield to?
Correct answer: All three, if they are close enough to be a hazard
Why
A plain green does not protect a left turn. Maine’s right-of-way law tells you to wait for oncoming vehicles, bicyclists and even roller skiers that are in the intersection or near enough to be a danger. Hold your spot until a gap opens that is big enough to finish the turn.
You are driving through the built-up center of a Maine town, past shops and houses, and have not seen any speed limit sign. What limit applies?
Correct answer: 25 mph
Why
Unless signs say otherwise, Maine sets 25 mph in business and residential districts and in the built-up part of a town, meaning stretches where buildings stand under 150 feet apart for a quarter mile or more. The basic rule still rides along: never faster than is careful and prudent for the conditions.
A Maine officer with probable cause asks you, a 25-year-old driver, to take a breath test, and you refuse. It is your first refusal. How long will your license be suspended for it?
Correct answer: 275 days
Why
Driving in Maine counts as agreeing to a chemical test. A first refusal brings a 275-day suspension, can be used as evidence at trial and makes an OUI sentence tougher. Drivers under 21 who refuse lose their license for 18 months.
Before a 16-year-old Maine permit holder can take the road test, how much supervised driving must the log show?
Correct answer: 70 hours, 10 at night
Why
Drivers under 21 need at least 70 logged hours, 10 of them after dark, and must hold the permit for six months or more. Only hours driven after the permit was issued count. A parent, guardian or spouse signs the log, and faking it is a crime.
You spot an open curbside space in a Maine town, right next to a fire hydrant. According to the Maine manual, what is the least distance you must leave between your car and the hydrant?
Correct answer: 10 feet
Why
The Maine Driver’s License Manual lists 10 feet as the closest you may park to a hydrant, so fire crews can reach it fast. The same list keeps you 15 feet from a crosswalk and from a fire station driveway. The manual presents these as common town parking rules, so obey any posted signs as well.
On a dry road, what minimum following distance does the Maine Driver’s License Manual teach?
Correct answer: 4 seconds
Why
Pick a fixed point that the car ahead passes and count: you should need at least four seconds to reach it. Stretch the gap on slippery roads or in poor conditions. The manual also has you look 20 to 30 seconds down the road so trouble never takes you by surprise.
Cruising a two-lane Maine highway, you notice a long yellow sign shaped like a pennant, planted at the far left edge of the pavement. What is it telling you?
Correct answer: Passing is not allowed from this point on
Why
Placed on the left so a driver about to pull out and pass sees it, the pennant means no passing from that point. Expect the center line on your half of the road to turn solid yellow as well. On the right, a white rectangular DO NOT PASS sign says the same thing.
The traffic light at a crossroads is blinking red in your direction. What does Maine law expect from you?
Correct answer: Stop fully, then go when it’s safe
Why
A blinking red signal carries the same meaning as a STOP sign: full stop, give way to traffic and pedestrians, then continue once it is clear. Blinking yellow is the gentler signal, letting you go on without stopping as long as you take extra care.
You come up behind a cyclist on a narrow Maine road. What is the least space the law lets you leave as you pass?
Correct answer: 3 feet
Why
Maine requires at least 3 feet of clearance when you pass a bicyclist or roller skier, and the same 3 feet for people walking along the road or shoulder. You may even go around them in a no-passing zone, but only when it is safe. If the oncoming lane is busy, wait behind them.
A yellow diamond with three arrows chasing each other in a circle warns of a roundabout ahead. Once you are driving in its outside lane, what does Maine law say?
Correct answer: You may not ride past two exits in that lane
Why
In Maine you enter by yielding to vehicles already circling, then travel counterclockwise with the center island on your left. The outside lane is meant for the first or second exit, and the law bars riding in it past two exits, so pick an inner lane for anything farther unless signs or arrows say otherwise.
Leaving a side road, you face a triangle pointing downward, red around the edge and white in the middle. What does it tell you to do?
Correct answer: Slow down and let traffic and pedestrians go first, stopping if needed
Why
That is a YIELD sign. Ease off, look both ways and let any vehicle or person already in your path go ahead of you; if the way is clear you can keep rolling without a full stop. Squeezing into a gap that is too small is how merge crashes start.
Out in the countryside between towns, you are on a public road that has no speed limit signs at all. What is Maine’s default limit there?
Correct answer: 45 mph
Why
Away from business and residential districts, a Maine road with nothing posted defaults to 45 mph. Many highways carry signs with higher limits, and a posted sign always wins. On a narrow, winding or icy road, a safe speed can be well under 45.
You are driving, and your 22-year-old passenger is holding an opened can of beer. Under Maine law, who is responsible for that open container?
Correct answer: You, the driver, even though the can is not yours
Why
Maine bans drinking and open alcohol containers anywhere in the passenger area, and the glove compartment counts as part of it. The driver is responsible even when someone else owns the open container. Anything already opened has to ride outside the passenger compartment.
Who may sit with you as your supervising driver while you practice on a Maine learner’s permit?
Correct answer: A licensed driver 20+, licensed 2+ years, in the front passenger seat
Why
Maine requires your supervisor to be at least 20, licensed for two years or more for that kind of vehicle, and sitting right beside you. Driving alone on a permit can bring a 30-day suspension. A permit also means no phone use at all behind the wheel, not even hands-free.
When you parallel park along a curb in Maine, how far from it may your wheels be, at most?
Correct answer: 18 inches
Why
The Maine manual asks you to tuck in close, ideally about 6 inches from the curb, and never more than 18 inches away. A car sticking out narrows the travel lane for everyone else. Before you swing your door open on the street side, check for cars and bikes.
You are on high beams on a dark stretch of Route 1 when a car appears, coming toward you. Within what distance must you switch to low beams?
Correct answer: 500 feet
Why
Maine requires low beams once an oncoming vehicle is within 500 feet, and within 300 feet when you are following another car. In fog, snow or a downpour, stay on low beams: high beams bounce back off the weather and blind you.
You are about to roll into an intersection on a green light when an ambulance with flashing lights and a siren comes up behind you. What does Maine law require?
Correct answer: Pull to the right, clear of the intersection, and stop
Why
Maine has you move as far to the right as practical and stop, staying out of the intersection, until the emergency vehicle has gone by. Failing to yield is a crime that starts at a $250 fine. After it goes by, keep your distance: a fire truck answering an alarm gets 500 feet of space, any other emergency vehicle with its lights on gets 150.
Coming around a bend on a northern Maine road at dusk, you find a moose standing in your lane. What does the Maine manual advise?
Correct answer: Slow down, stay in the car and give it time to move off
Why
A moose is huge and unpredictable, so the manual says to slow down, never try to drive around it, stay inside and let it wander off. Its eyes sit too high to shine back in your headlights, which makes it hard to see at night. Moose crashes peak in May and June, and mating season runs August through October.
You pass a round yellow sign with a large X and the letters RR. At the tracks just beyond it, the crossing lights begin to flash. Where does Maine law say your car must stop?
Correct answer: Between 15 and 50 feet from the closest rail
Why
The round sign is only the early warning; the crossing itself is marked by a white X-shaped crossbuck. Once lights flash, a gate drops, a flagger signals or a train is close, Maine wants you stopped at least 15 feet but no more than 50 feet from the nearest rail. Even with nothing flashing, be down to a safe speed by the time you are 100 feet from the rail.
You are driving behind a school bus on a two-lane Maine road when it stops with red lights flashing and its stop arm out. Only a painted center line divides the road. Who has to stop?
Correct answer: Drivers in both directions
Why
A bus showing red lights in Maine halts traffic from either direction, and everyone waits until it moves again or the bus driver signals them on. Only a curb or other physical barrier between you and the bus, or a limited-access highway, removes the duty to stop; paint does not count. Passing illegally is a crime with a minimum fine of $250.
A red eight-sided sign stands at a corner where no stop line or crosswalk is painted on the road. Where should your car come to a stop?
Correct answer: Where you can see cross traffic, before any part of the car enters the intersection
Why
When a stop line is painted, stop behind it; when there is only a crosswalk, stop before it. With neither, pull up to the spot where you can see the cross street without your bumper sticking into it. Then go only after the drivers and pedestrians who have the right-of-way have passed.
Heading north on a rural stretch of Maine interstate, you pass a white SPEED LIMIT 75 sign. On which kind of road may Maine post a limit this high?
Correct answer: Interstates and similar divided, controlled-access highways
Why
Seventy-five mph is the highest limit Maine DOT may post, and only on the interstate system and other divided highways with controlled access. Elsewhere the cap is 60 mph. Going 30 mph or more over any limit is a crime in Maine and can cost you your license.
Hedges and buildings hide the side roads at a crossing ahead, and no stop sign or signal gives you the right-of-way. What speed does Maine law allow within 50 feet of that intersection?
Correct answer: 15 mph
Why
Maine calls it a blind intersection when, during your last 50 feet, you cannot see 200 feet along each crossing road. From 50 feet out until you are through, the limit is 15 mph. Slowing early gives you room to stop for a car that pops out from behind the hedge.
You are 30 and waiting at a red light in Bangor when your phone buzzes. What does Maine law allow?
Correct answer: Only hands-free use; holding it is illegal even at a red light
Why
Maine’s hands-free law bans holding or using a phone while you drive, and sitting at a light or in a traffic jam still counts as driving. Drivers 18 and older may talk hands-free and give a mounted phone one tap or swipe. To hold it, pull off the road and stop safely; fines start at $50 and rise to $250.
What is the least a driver faces after a first OUI conviction in Maine?
Correct answer: At least a $500 fine and a 150-day suspension
Why
Maine sets a floor of $500 and 150 days without a license for a first OUI, and the fine climbs to $600 if you refused the test. Add at least 48 hours in jail at 0.15% or higher, at 30 mph or more over the limit, or with a passenger under 21. Coffee and cold showers do nothing; only time clears alcohol.
You are 16 and just got your Maine intermediate license. During its restricted period, when are you not allowed to drive?
Correct answer: Between midnight and 5 a.m.
Why
For the first 270 days of an intermediate license, Maine keeps teens off the road from midnight to 5 a.m., and the law lists no work or school exception. Breaking a restriction means a $250 to $500 fine, another 270 days of limits and a suspension that starts at 60 days.
A 16-year-old is in the first 270 days of a Maine intermediate license, with no supervising driver aboard. Who may ride as passengers?
Correct answer: Only immediate family members
Why
Unless a licensed driver who is 20 or older, and licensed for 2+ years, sits beside the teen, Maine allows only immediate family in the car during the restricted period. A foreign exchange student or ward living with the family counts as family. Friends can ride along once the 270 days are over.
You plan to turn right into a driveway on a Maine road. Over what distance before the turn must your signal stay on without a break?
Correct answer: The last 100 feet
Why
Maine requires a steady signal for at least the final 100 feet before a turn, and a signal before you stop or slow suddenly. If your signal lights fail, use your left arm: straight out for a left, bent up for a right, bent down to slow or stop.
After an overnight snowstorm, your car is buried under snow and ice. What does Maine law expect from the driver of a passenger car before heading out?
Correct answer: Make reasonable efforts to keep it from flying off
Why
Maine requires drivers of vehicles under 10,000 pounds to take reasonable steps to keep snow and ice from falling off. If loose snow or ice from your car damages property or hurts someone, the fine can reach $50, and repeat offenses cost $150 to $250. Brush off the roof, hood and lights, not just a peephole in the glass.
What to know before your BMV appointment.
Maine · Class C written exam
24 of 30 to pass.
30 questions · Digital test, in person24 of 30 answers right to pass
18 to 20? Driver ed is optional, but you still hold the permit six months and log 70 hours. At 21 or older, pass the written and vision tests, get your permit and request the road test whenever you’re ready.
Study the Maine Driver’s License Manual (rev. 4/24): the test covers traffic rules, signs, pedestrian and bicycle safety, distracted driving and, with extra weight, Maine’s OUI laws. Here’s what to know cold in six key areas.
Six Maine figures that turn up on test day.
These 40 questions are just the warm-up. The app gives you 466 Maine practice questions, 36 short lessons and the why behind every answer.
30 questions on traffic rules, road signs, pedestrian and bicycle safety, OUI law and distracted driving. You need 24 right (80%) to pass, so you can miss up to 6. In Maine the test is given by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV), part of the Secretary of State’s office, rather than a DMV.
You can take it again. Each reexamination costs $35, and the BMV doesn’t publish a waiting period between tries. If you can’t make a test appointment, reschedule at least 48 hours ahead; a no-show costs another $35.
No. Maine gives the written exam and vision screening in person at BMV branch offices. Mail or bring your permit application (form MVE-64) with the $35 fee, and the BMV mails you an appointment at the location closest to your address, usually within three weeks.
Yes. Check Spanish on the permit application and the digital test is given in Spanish. Since February 1, 2026, the BMV also provides a free interpreter for languages the digital test doesn’t offer. The driver’s manual has a Spanish edition, and this practice test and the app are in Spanish too.
15, and under 18 you must finish driver ed before you apply. Hold the permit at least six months and log 70 supervised hours (10 at night), and you can take the road test at 16. For the first 270 days, the intermediate license bans driving from midnight to 5 a.m., limits passengers to family unless a licensed driver 20 or older rides along, and rules out phone use entirely.
The examination fee is $35, and it also covers your first road test. The license itself costs $30, or $55 for a REAL ID. Your permit lasts two years and can’t be renewed; if it runs out, you reapply and retake the vision and written tests, but your logged hours carry over.
By mail. Under 21, send your completed driving log to the BMV; at 21 or older, mail the request card from the back of your permit. The examiner watches how you control the car and handle traffic, and you’ll parallel park and back up in a straight line. Bring your own registered, inspected car and a licensed driver.
Read the Maine Driver’s License Manual and try the practice questions at the end of each chapter, then practice until 80% feels easy. Start with the 40 questions above, then let the app take you through 466 Maine questions and 36 short lessons, with every answer explained.