ME Permit Practice Test 25

All 20 questions in test 25

Every question below comes from the Maine question bank on this page. Open a question to see the correct answer and the explanation. Nothing here is hidden behind a signup.

1. 1. Where must a rear-facing child safety seat never be placed?

   1. In front of an active passenger air bag.
   2. In the rear seat with the belt secured.
   3. Behind the driver in the rear seat.
   4. In a rear seat without an air bag.
   Show answer

   In front of an active passenger air bag.. Maine prohibits placing a rear-facing child safety seat in front of an active passenger air bag. If the bag deploys, it can strike the back of the seat with dangerous force. A rear seat with the belt secured is an appropriate place for the restraint, and the position behind the driver is still in the rear. A rear seat without an air bag does not create the front-seat deployment hazard described by the rule. The key safety check is whether an active passenger air bag is directly in front of the rear-facing seat.

   Study this in the handbook: Seat position, seat belts and child safety

2. 2. Brief micro sleeps that a drowsy driver may never notice typically last how long?

   1. Half a second
   2. Two minutes
   3. About thirty seconds
   4. Four to five seconds
   Show answer

   Four to five seconds. Drowsy driving hides its worst trick in plain sight. Micro sleeps or brief naps last only four to five seconds, yet at 55 miles an hour even that tiny nap covers dangerous ground with nobody steering. Half a second understates how long the brain can drop out unnoticed. Thirty seconds or two minutes would be obvious sleep, not the stealthy lapse described. Treat heavy eyelids as a stop signal long before any lapse occurs.

   Study this in the handbook: Vision, fatigue and distractions

3. 3. Before making a right turn, which movement should you avoid?

   1. Turning from the rightmost part of your lane.
   2. Checking your right mirror.
   3. Signaling before reaching the corner.
   4. Swinging wide to the left.
   Show answer

   Swinging wide to the left.. Maine tells drivers not to swing wide to the left before a right turn. The turn should begin from the rightmost portion of the lane, so a leftward swing can confuse traffic behind you and create extra space beside the vehicle. Turning from the rightmost part, checking the mirror, and signaling before the corner are useful parts of preparing to turn. The wide-left movement is the one the manual specifically warns against.

   Study this in the handbook: Turns, traffic circles and roundabouts

4. 4. A Maine driver refuses a lawful alcohol test during an OUI stop. How long can the administrative license suspension last?

   1. Up to six years
   2. Up to 30 days
   3. Up to 90 days
   4. Only until the court hearing
   Show answer

   Up to six years. Refusal triggers an administrative penalty that needs no court action at all. Operating in Maine counts as consent to testing, and refusing brings immediate suspension by the Secretary of State for a period of up to six years. Thirty or ninety days shrinks a penalty measured in years down to a brief inconvenience. Hearings do not cap the term either. Submit to the test when asked; refusing trades a short stop for years without a license.

   Study this in the handbook: OUI law, implied consent and penalties

5. 5. What fine does the Maine manual list for parking in a space reserved for persons with disabilities without a permit or plates?

   1. $50
   2. $100
   3. $200
   4. $500
   Show answer

   $100. The manual puts a $100 fine on parking in a space reserved for a person with disabilities when the vehicle does not display the required permit or plates. A separate $200 minimum applies to misuse of an access aisle, which is the striped area beside an accessible space. The two amounts are easy to mix up because both concern disability parking. Fifty dollars is below either figure, and $500 is not the amount listed for the reserved space. Cue: no placard or disability plate means the space is off limits, and the stated penalty is $100.

6. 6. What does Maine law say about driving on an expired license?

   1. It is allowed for 30 days after expiration
   2. It is unlawful to drive with an expired license
   3. It is allowed if a renewal notice was mailed
   4. It is allowed only on rural roads
   Show answer

   It is unlawful to drive with an expired license. Expiration ends driving authority on the spot. It is unlawful to drive a motor vehicle with an expired license, with no grace month tacked onto the printed date. A mailed renewal notice reminds the driver to act but never extends permission by itself. Rural pavement carries the same licensing law as city streets. Renew before the birthday deadline arrives, and treat any lapse as a stop driving problem until the new license issues.

   Study this in the handbook: Getting a learner's permit and a license

7. 7. Your road is covered with ice. How much should you slow down?

   1. Slow down by 5 to 10 mph
   2. Slow down to half speed
   3. Slow to a crawl
   4. Keep normal speed with care
   Show answer

   Slow to a crawl. Each slippery surface earns a different speed cut. A wet road calls for slowing by 5 to 10 miles per hour, packed snow calls for half speed, and ice calls for slowing to a crawl. Keeping normal speed on ice leaves almost no grip for stopping or steering, because the tires need far longer to bite. Treat the surface in front of you as the instruction: the slicker the road looks and feels, the deeper the speed cut must be before you reach a turn or a stop.

   Study this in the handbook: Scanning, stopping distance and road conditions

8. 8. A car with windows and doors closed plunges into water. How long may it float before sinking?

   1. From 3 to 10 minutes
   2. Less than thirty seconds
   3. About one hour
   4. It sinks instantly always
   Show answer

   From 3 to 10 minutes. A sealed car traps enough air to buy precious minutes afloat. A car with windows and door closed may float from 3 to 10 minutes, giving occupants time to unbuckle, open windows, and escape before water pressure seals the doors. Instant sinking panic wastes those minutes on frozen fear. An hour overstates buoyancy dangerously. Act in the first minute, belts off, windows down, children first, out and to the surface.

   Study this in the handbook: Brake failure, blowouts and other vehicle problems

9. 9. How often should a driver check the mirror for traffic behind?

   1. Only on highways
   2. Every two minutes
   3. Only before braking
   4. Every 6 to 8 seconds
   Show answer

   Every 6 to 8 seconds. Rear awareness decays fast in flowing traffic. Check your mirror often for traffic behind you, every 6 to 8 seconds, so a tailgater or fast closer never arrives as a surprise. Two minutes lets entire platoons overtake unnoticed. Braking without a recent mirror picture risks trading a front hazard for a rear impact. weave mirror glances into the scanning rhythm on city streets and highways alike, timed like a heartbeat.

   Study this in the handbook: Warning, railroad and work zone signs

10. 10. What should a driver maintain around the vehicle in traffic whenever possible?

    1. A safe space cushion on all sides
    2. Close contact with traffic flow
    3. A position tight behind trucks
    4. Space only in front, never beside
    Show answer

    A safe space cushion on all sides. Room around the car converts surprises into manageable events. Always try to maintain a safe space cushion around your vehicle, with gaps ahead, beside, and behind that absorb braking, drifting, and merging errors by others. Tight truck following and tailgating erase the front third of that cushion. One sided space leaves flanks exposed to lane changers. Build the bubble early, defend it gently, and rebuild it whenever traffic compresses it.

    Study this in the handbook: Following distance, headlights and signals

11. 11. You are entering fast traffic from an entrance lane. How should you use the gap you find?

    1. Slow down in the entrance lane and wait for a large gap
    2. Enter the gap slowly, below the speed of traffic
    3. Increase speed in the entrance lane and enter at highway speed
    4. Stop in the entrance lane, then enter at highway speed
    Show answer

    Increase speed in the entrance lane and enter at highway speed. Merging works when speeds match. Look for a gap, then increase speed in the entrance lane and enter the gap at highway speed so traffic behind you need not brake or swerve. Slowing in the entrance lane wastes the room built for accelerating. Entering below traffic speed forces others to close on you fast. Stopping in a lane that provides room to accelerate invites a rear end crash. Build speed beside the highway, pick the gap early, and slide in already moving with the flow.

12. 12. On slippery roads, which three adjustments together define safe driving?

    1. Faster, firmer, closer
    2. Normal speed, hard brakes
    3. Slower, gentler, farther apart
    4. Shorter gaps to finish sooner
    Show answer

    Slower, gentler, farther apart. Low traction rewrites every input a driver makes. On slippery roads, the important points to safe driving are slower speeds, gentler stops and turns, and increased following distances, because tires near their grip limit punish abrupt demands. Firmer braking and tighter gaps consume the tiny margin ice leaves behind. Finishing sooner tempts speed that physics will not forgive. Feather every control, widen every gap, and let the trip take the time winter demands.

    Study this in the handbook: Night, rural, winter and wet weather driving

13. 13. What must be true of registration plates for Maine inspection?

    1. Only the rear plate matters
    2. Faded plates pass if numbers memorized
    3. Plates may hang by wire
    4. All issued plates attached and easy to read
    Show answer

    All issued plates attached and easy to read. Plates identify the vehicle to every officer and camera it passes. All issued plates must be attached to the vehicle and easy to read, mounted flat and clean at both ends where issued. Wire hanging invites loss at highway speed and angles numbers away from readers. Memorized digits live in the owner head, not on the road where identification happens. Tighten mounts, wash the lettering, and replace plates whose characters winter salt has erased.

    Study this in the handbook: Title, registration, insurance and inspection

14. 14. You are pulling out from a parking place on the right side of a street. Where should you look before moving?

    1. Over your right shoulder
    2. Over your left shoulder
    3. Only in the rearview mirror
    4. Straight ahead at the hood
    Show answer

    Over your left shoulder. When pulling away from a curb on the right, a driver faces traffic approaching from behind on the left. Maine tells you to turn your head and look over the left shoulder rather than relying only on the rearview mirror, because a mirror leaves blind areas near the rear corner. Looking right checks the curb side, the mirror alone misses a bicycle or car in the blind spot, and staring at the hood ignores the threat. Cue: head left, signal, then ease out.

15. 15. To conserve fuel while stopped, how long should a driver let the car idle at most?

    1. Five minutes
    2. Ten minutes
    3. One minute
    4. Idling uses no fuel
    Show answer

    One minute. Idling burns fuel without moving anyone anywhere. When you stop or start the car, do not idle for more than one minute, a habit that also trims emissions at curbs and driveways. Five or ten minutes multiplies waste across every trip and driver on the road. Claiming idling burns nothing denies the gauge movement every driver can watch. Shut down during waits, restart cleanly, and pocket the saved fuel.

16. 16. Rural roads often replace shoulders with what roadside features that demand lane discipline?

    1. Wide paved aprons
    2. Bike lanes and sidewalks
    3. Guardrails on every mile
    4. Ditches, drop offs at edges
    Show answer

    Ditches, drop offs at edges. Country roads forgive nothing beyond the edge line. Rural roads are narrower and may have ditches or drop offs instead of shoulders, so slow down and center your vehicle in your lane while watching for oncoming traffic crowding your side. Paved aprons and guardrails belong to engineered highways, not town roads through farmland. A wheel dropped into a ditch can yank steering from tired hands. Hold the lane center and treat every crest as a meeting with a wide truck.

    Study this in the handbook: Night, rural, winter and wet weather driving

17. 17. When may a driver stop, park, or drive inside a marked bicycle lane?

    1. Entering or leaving a driveway
    2. At any time traffic is light
    3. Only during rush hour
    4. Whenever hazards flash
    Show answer

    Entering or leaving a driveway. Bicycle lanes reserve pavement for fragile riders, not spare car space. Do not stop, park, or drive in a bicycle lane unless you are entering or leaving an alley or driveway, crossing the lane briefly for access rather than traveling within it. Light traffic does not repeal the reservation. Rush hour crowding tempts exactly the intrusion the rule forbids. Keep cars out, let riders roll unmolested, and cross lanes only at access points with a shoulder check.

    Study this in the handbook: Pedestrians, bicycles, motorcycles and large vehicles

18. 18. Fog thickens until you can barely see the road ahead. What should you do?

    1. Creep along at low speed
    2. Follow tail lights closely
    3. Pull off, stop, flashers on
    4. Drive with high beams on
    Show answer

    Pull off, stop, flashers on. Vanishing visibility ends any safe claim to the roadway. If the fog becomes so thick that you can barely see, pull off the road and stop, using your emergency flashers, and wait until visibility improves rather than creeping blind among faster traffic. Tail light following chains you to another driver mistakes at zero margin. High beams reflect off fog into a white wall. Park fully clear, light the flashers, and let the weather lift.

    Study this in the handbook: Night, rural, winter and wet weather driving

19. 19. You drive a taxicab carrying a passenger for a fee. Who must make sure that passenger wears a seat belt?

    1. The taxicab operator in every case
    2. The passenger, not the taxicab operator
    3. The next driver who rents the taxicab
    4. No one, since taxicabs need no belts
    Show answer

    The passenger, not the taxicab operator. For hire carriage shifts belt duty to the rider. The operator of a taxicab or a limousine is not responsible for securing in a seat belt a passenger transported for a fee, so the paying passenger must buckle up personally. That exception is narrow: it covers the operator duty for a fare paying passenger, not belt equipment or other riders under other rules. The next renter inherits no duty for your trip. If you ride for hire, find the belt, wear it, and do not wait for the driver.

    Study this in the handbook: Seat position, seat belts and child safety

20. 20. What must accompany mirror checks during every lane change?

    1. A honk before moving over
    2. Looking over the shoulder toward the move
    3. Trusting the blind spot monitor alone
    4. Speeding up to clear the lane
    Show answer

    Looking over the shoulder toward the move. Mirrors leave a wedge of road completely unseen beside the rear doors. Whenever you change lanes, give the correct signal and look over your shoulder in the direction you are about to move to make sure you do not get in the way of a vehicle already there. Monitors assist but can miss a fast approaching car. Shoulder glances take half a second and confirm the lane is empty in the only way that counts, with eyes.

    Study this in the handbook: Turns, traffic circles and roundabouts