Maine Permit Practice Test 2
A second full-length Maine practice test: 30 fresh multiple-choice questions with zero repeats from Test 1. The real BMV Knowledge Test has 30 questions, and you need 24 correct (80%) to pass.
Question 1 of 30
1. What is a reliable way to judge whether you are following the vehicle ahead too closely?
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Correct answer: A. Pick a fixed marker like a pole or shadow; when the vehicle ahead passes it, count seconds until you arrive. Counting seconds works at any speed, unlike guessing car lengths. The road itself becomes your measuring tape.
2. Along a curb you see a white sign with a large letter P inside a red circle and slash. What does it tell you?
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Correct answer: C. A P covered by a red circle and slash is the international no-parking symbol, banning parking where the sign applies. It keeps curbs clear for visibility, hydrants, and traffic flow. Any symbol wearing the red slash is something you cannot do.
3. You are studying for the Maine permit knowledge exam and want to schedule it as early as the law allows. You can hold a learner's permit beginning at which age?
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Correct answer: C. In Maine, 15 is the earliest age for a learner's permit, so plan your knowledge exam around that date. Study the official handbook, since permit questions come from it, and arrive with the required documents ready.
4. You and another driver stop at a four-way stop at exactly the same time, and the other car is on your right. What should you do?
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Correct answer: D. When two drivers stop at the same moment, the driver on the left yields to the driver on the right. This tiebreaker gives everyone the same answer without guessing. Remember the phrase: right goes right away.
5. You stop at a red light planning to turn right, and a white sign beside the signal reads NO TURN ON RED. What does the sign change?
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Correct answer: A. Many places allow a right turn on red after a complete stop, but a NO TURN ON RED sign removes that option. It appears where crosswalks or sight lines make red-light turns risky. When posted, red simply means wait.
6. You are involved in a crash with another vehicle. What does the law require you to do?
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Correct answer: D. After any crash you are part of, stop at once, get help for the injured, trade license, registration, and insurance details, and report the crash when required. Leaving without doing these turns an accident into a crime.
7. In Maine, supervised behind-the-wheel practice with a permit can begin once a teen reaches which age?
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Correct answer: C. Supervised practice starts at 15 in Maine, once the teen holds a learner's permit. Every practice hour with a licensed adult builds judgment that classroom study alone can never teach, which is why the permit stage exists.
8. Your car stalls on railroad tracks and a train is coming. What should everyone in the car do?
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Correct answer: D. Abandon the car immediately and run toward the oncoming train at an angle leading away from the tracks, so flying wreckage sails past you instead of into you. Trains cannot stop quickly. Cars are replaceable; people are not.
9. How should a lap and shoulder belt be worn so it protects you in a crash?
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Correct answer: D. Wear the lap belt low and snug over your hips and the shoulder belt across your chest, because those strong bones absorb crash forces safely. Belts on your belly or behind your back can cause serious internal injuries.
10. At the top of a ramp you see a square sign with a red circle and a white horizontal bar reading DO NOT ENTER. What does it mean?
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Correct answer: A. DO NOT ENTER marks a roadway where traffic flows toward you, such as an exit ramp or one-way street. Entering it risks a head-on crash. If you have already turned in and see WRONG WAY, pull over and turn around safely.
11. Which driving skill does alcohol usually weaken first, often before you feel any different?
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Correct answer: A. Alcohol reaches your judgment before anything else, so you lose the very skill needed to notice you are impaired. That is why drinkers often insist they are fine. Remember: the first thing to go is the ability to know.
12. You are over 21 and refuse a chemical test for the first time after a Maine OUI stop. How long is the administrative license suspension?
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Correct answer: A. Maine's implied-consent law obligates every driver to complete chemical testing. A first refusal by an adult brings a 275-day administrative suspension — far longer than the 150 days for a first OUI. In Maine, refusing costs more than failing.
13. In Maine, a driver who is 21 or older breaks the law by driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at or above what level?
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Correct answer: A. Maine law makes it illegal to drive with a BAC of 0.08% or higher. Alcohol slows judgment and reaction time, and impairment can begin well below that number. Treat 0.08% as a legal line, never a safe target.
14. A person with a white cane is about to cross the street ahead of you. What must you do?
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Correct answer: A. A white cane or guide dog marks a pedestrian who is blind, and that person has the right-of-way every time. Stop if needed and never honk, which can confuse them. White cane means your brakes, not your horn.
15. Which shape is used only for yield signs, so you can recognize the sign even when you cannot read its face?
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Correct answer: D. Only yield signs use the downward-pointing triangle, just as only stop signs use the octagon. Unique shapes let drivers react from the outline alone in fog or darkness. Picture the point aiming down, telling you to back off and give way.
16. Under zero-tolerance laws, what happens to a driver under 21 caught with any measurable alcohol in their system?
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Correct answer: A. Every state enforces zero tolerance: drivers under 21 face penalties, typically license loss, for any measurable amount of alcohol. Because underage drinking is illegal, no level is acceptable. For young drivers, the only safe number is zero.
17. You hit a stretch of heavy rain and patchy fog on the highway. How should you adjust your speed?
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Correct answer: B. In rain or fog, reduce speed until you could stop within the distance you can actually see, since wet pavement stretches stopping distance and fog hides hazards. Drive by sight distance: if you cannot see it, slow for it.
18. You are turning left at an intersection on a green light while an oncoming car heads straight toward the intersection. What is the rule?
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Correct answer: C. A driver turning left must yield to oncoming vehicles going straight or turning right, crossing only when there is a safe gap. Straight traffic keeps its speed and path, so the turning driver waits. Left turn equals lower priority.
19. One sign shape is so important that it is reserved for a single message: STOP. Which shape is it?
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Correct answer: B. The eight-sided octagon belongs to the stop sign alone, so you can recognize a stop even when the face is snow-covered or faded. Count eight sides, prepare to stop. No other sign may borrow this shape.
20. A 30-year-old driver in Maine takes a chemical test after a crash. Prosecutors can prove DUI from the test result alone once the BAC is at least which value?
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Correct answer: D. A test showing 0.08% or higher proves per-se DUI in Maine without any other evidence of impairment. Lawmakers chose that threshold because crash risk climbs sharply near it, though alcohol degrades driving skills at lower levels too.
21. Signs on Maine highways vary from road to road, but the law sets one absolute top limit for the fastest routes. That limit is which value?
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Correct answer: D. By statute, 75 mph is the fastest any Maine road can be posted. Below that ceiling, engineers set each road's limit for its design and traffic, which is why the posted sign on your road always governs.
22. What happens when a car hydroplanes on a wet road?
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Correct answer: C. Hydroplaning happens when tires ride up on a layer of water instead of the pavement, erasing steering and braking grip. Higher speeds make it far more likely. Ease off the gas smoothly; think of tires turning into water skis.
23. You are 19 and drive in Maine with a measurable amount of alcohol in your system. What license suspension does a first offense bring?
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Correct answer: C. Maine provisional licenses carry a zero-tolerance condition: driving with any level of alcohol or drugs brings a one-year suspension for a first offense, two years for a second. Under 21 in Maine, one sip can cost one year.
24. You park facing downhill on a street with a curb. Where should your front wheels point?
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Correct answer: C. When parking downhill with a curb, turn your front wheels toward the curb; if the car rolls, the tire wedges against the curb instead of drifting into traffic. Think downhill, dive toward the curb, and set the brake.
25. Your GPS routes you through a Maine neighborhood of homes and parked cars with no posted speed limit. State law caps your speed there at what value?
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Correct answer: D. State law gives unposted residential areas in Maine a default cap of 25 mph. Parked cars shrink your view of crossing pedestrians, which is exactly why the cap is low. Posted signs, where present, replace the default.
26. The light is steady green as you reach an intersection. Which statement is true?
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Correct answer: B. A green light means you may proceed, but only after yielding to pedestrians and vehicles still clearing the intersection. Green grants permission, not protection, so look left, right, and left again before you enter.
27. You merge onto an interstate in Maine posted at the state's maximum speed limit. The fastest you may legally drive there is which speed?
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Correct answer: C. Maine caps highway speed at 75 mph, its statewide maximum. Even on wide-open pavement, the posted number is the ceiling, and rain, fog, or traffic can make a much lower speed the only safe and legal choice.
28. At what alcohol level does Maine law consider a driver age 21 or older to be operating under the influence?
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Correct answer: B. Under 29-A MRS §2411, you commit OUI in Maine at an alcohol level of 0.08 grams or more per 100 milliliters of blood or 210 liters of breath. Testing at 0.15 or higher adds mandatory jail time — 0.08 is the line.
29. You are under 21 and working toward your first license in Maine. How many total hours of supervised practice driving must you log before the road test?
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Correct answer: D. Maine requires drivers under 21 to log 70 supervised practice hours before the road test, one of the highest totals in the nation. Extensive practice builds real skill; remember Maine's lucky 70 before you test.
30. An 18-year-old in Maine has one beer at a graduation party and then drives. At what BAC could this driver already be violating the zero-tolerance law?
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Correct answer: C. One beer can push a young driver to any detectable amount, the level where Maine's zero-tolerance law kicks in. The rule protects new drivers, whose crash risk rises quickly with alcohol. Skip every drink if you plan to drive.
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