Maine Permit Practice Test 3
A third full-length Maine practice test: 30 more questions with zero repeats from Tests 1 or 2 — including extra Maine-specific rules. The real BMV Knowledge Test has 30 questions, and you need 24 correct (80%) to pass.
Tap an answer. The explanation opens so you can learn it, then go on. Keyboard: A–D or 1–4 to answer, then Enter or Space.
Question 1 of 30
1. Which agency administers the learner's-permit knowledge test in Maine?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. In Maine, driver licensing — including the permit knowledge test — is run by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV). Federal agencies write guidance and fund programs, but they do not hand you a Maine permit. When in doubt, start at the BMV site.
2. A freeway on-ramp has a recommended speed of 35 mph on a yellow plaque. The freeway is posted 65. What should you do on the ramp curve?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Yellow advisory speeds mark ramps and curves that cannot be taken at the highway limit. Slow for the curve, then speed up in the acceleration lane. Advisory plaques are the voice of physics, not decoration.
3. A teen walks into a Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) office in Maine to apply for a first learner's permit. The office can accept the application once the teen is what age?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. The BMV accepts learner's permit applications at age 15 in Maine. Bring proof of identity, residency, and usually a parent's signature, then pass the knowledge and vision screenings. Age is simply the first box to check.
4. You turn off a busy road into a quiet subdivision in Maine and see no speed limit sign on the new street. Your maximum legal speed is now which value?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D. Once you enter an unposted residential street in Maine, the limit drops to the default of 25 mph. Slow down as you turn in; the quiet look of a subdivision hides driveways, cyclists, and children near the pavement.
5. A friend says every US interstate is 80 mph. In Maine, the highest posted highway limit is actually:
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Interstate limits vary. Maine tops out at 75 mph where posted. Learn the number for your state, then obey the sign in front of you, which is often lower.
6. 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?
Show answer & explanation
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, not a safe target.
7. How does the alcohol in a regular beer compare with a standard glass of wine or a single shot of liquor?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. A standard beer, glass of wine, and shot of liquor each deliver about the same alcohol, so switching drinks does not protect you. Your body counts drinks, not drink types. One is one, whatever the glass looks like.
8. You approach an intersection with no signs or signals, and another vehicle approaches from a cross street at about the same time. Who should yield?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. At an uncontrolled intersection, slow down and yield to any vehicle that reaches it at about the same time from your right. Without signs, this default rule sorts out conflicts. Same tiebreaker as a four-way stop: right goes first.
9. A 17-year-old in Maine claims, 'I only need to stay under the adult limit.' Under zero tolerance, the BAC that actually applies to under-21 drivers is what?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C. The adult limit is irrelevant for minors. Maine's zero-tolerance law applies at any detectable amount for drivers under 21, because any alcohol raises a new driver's crash risk. If you are under 21, drinking and driving do not mix.
10. Unless signs show a different limit, how fast may you drive in a business or residential district in Maine?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Unless signs say otherwise, Maine law sets 25 mph in business or residential districts and other built-up areas. Pedestrians, driveways, and parked cars demand slow speeds. Where buildings cluster in Maine, think quarter-of-100: 25.
11. How close to a fire hydrant may you legally park in Maine?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Maine’s no-parking list uses 10 feet from a fire hydrant, 15 feet from a fire-station driveway or the curb across from that entrance, and 15 feet from a crosswalk. Ten is the hydrant number, not the more common 15-foot rule used in many other states.
12. In Maine, a driver who is 21 or older commits a per-se drunk-driving offense once their blood alcohol concentration reaches which level?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. 'Per se' means the number alone proves the offense. In Maine, that number is 0.08%. No other proof of bad driving is needed at that level, and alcohol can still impair you below it.
13. A pedestrian is crossing your half of the street in a crosswalk at an intersection without signals. What must you do?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Drivers must yield to pedestrians in a crosswalk, and crosswalks legally exist at intersections even when no lines are painted. People on foot have no protection in a collision, so treat every corner as a possible crosswalk.
14. If it becomes hard to control the car, what does Ready.gov tell you to do?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Official Ready.gov car-safety guidance says If it becomes hard to control the car, pull over, stop the car and set the parking brake. The leftover pump-the-failed-brake list is not on that page; this nearby official loss-of-control sentence is.
15. The signal shows a green arrow for your left turn. What does having a 'protected' turn mean?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. A green arrow gives you a protected turn: conflicting traffic is held by a red signal. Still glance for people or vehicles already in the intersection, because protected means favored, not guaranteed safe.
16. What first responsible-driver step does NHTSA list if you plan to drink?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Official NHTSA drunk-driving guidance says Plan your safe ride home before you start the party, choose a non-drinking friend as a designated driver. If you drink, do not drive for any reason.
17. A center lane is bordered on each side by a solid yellow line with a broken yellow line inside it, and white left-turn arrows are painted for both directions. How may you use this lane?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. A two-way left-turn lane is shared by both directions for left turns only. Enter just before your turn, watch for opposing drivers using the same lane, and never travel or pass in it. Turn, do not cruise.
18. 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?
Show answer & explanation
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 governs.
19. Maine law requires how much space between your vehicle and a bicycle as you pass?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Maine law requires at least three feet of space between the right side of your vehicle and the bicycle as you pass. Slow down and give as much room as you can. If an oncoming car and a rider appear together, take them one at a time. Three feet is a Maine statute, not a suggestion.
20. 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?
Show answer & explanation
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.
21. A yellow diamond shows a truck tipping on a curved arrow. What should you do before the curve?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B. The tipping-truck symbol marks a curve or ramp with a recommended lower speed for high-center vehicles — and a wise lower speed for everyone. Slow before you enter the curve, not in the middle of it.
22. Two solid yellow lines run down the center of the road. What do they prohibit?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D. Double solid yellow lines ban passing for traffic in both directions, because sight distance or traffic makes passing unsafe there. Crossing is generally allowed only to turn into a driveway or side road, not to overtake.
23. What does NHTSA say texting does to your eyes on the road?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Official NHTSA distracted-driving guidance says Sending or reading a text takes your eyes off the road for 5 seconds. At 55 mph, that is like driving the length of an entire football field with your eyes closed. Distracted driving is any activity that diverts attention from driving.
24. On a highway you pass a white regulatory sign reading MINIMUM SPEED 40. Why is that sign posted?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D. A minimum speed sign requires you to travel at least the posted speed when conditions allow. Highways post it because vehicles moving far below the flow cause rear-end and lane-change crashes. Too slow can be as dangerous as too fast.
25. Before turning left across oncoming traffic, why should you look twice for motorcycles?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. A motorcycle's narrow profile fools your eyes: it looks farther away and slower than it really is. Many rider deaths happen when cars turn left across their path. Look twice and judge twice before you commit.
26. Why is texting on a handheld phone one of the most dangerous things a driver can do?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A. Texting combines all three types of distraction at once: visual, manual, and cognitive, since your eyes, hands, and thoughts all leave the road together. A driver who is not looking, holding, or thinking is barely driving at all.
27. A classmate insists everyone must wait until 18 to start driving in Maine. The real minimum age for a learner's permit is which of these?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D. Your classmate is wrong: Maine grants learner's permits at 15. Starting earlier gives you months of supervised practice while risk is lowest. When rules feel fuzzy, confirm them in the official state driver handbook.
28. While you wait to turn, the green arrow changes to a steady yellow arrow. What is the signal telling you?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D. A steady yellow arrow warns that the protected turning phase is about to end. Stop if you can do so safely; drivers already at the point of no return may finish the turn cautiously. Yellow arrow means wrap up, not speed up.
29. What is double parking, and why is it against the rules?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D. Double parking means standing or parking in the roadway alongside a vehicle already parked at the curb. It blocks a travel lane, hides pedestrians, and pins in the parked car, so the practice is prohibited on public streets.
30. In which situations should you add extra following distance behind the vehicle ahead?
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C. Add following distance whenever stopping gets harder or seeing gets worse: slick roads, tailgaters behind you, big trucks blocking your view, or motorcycles that can stop quickly. More risk calls for more room ahead of you.
Enter or Space also advances.