Maine BMV Permit Practice Test 29
- Questions30
- Correct to pass24
- Passing score80%
- Minimum age15 years
-
1. You drive away and the car feels sluggish while a warning light glows on the dash. What is a likely cause?
Show answer
Answer B: The parking brake was left partly applied
Driving with the parking brake partly on overheats the rear brakes and can ruin them, so release it fully and check that the warning light goes out.
-
2. Two vehicles reach a four-way stop at the same moment from adjacent roads. Who should go first?
Show answer
Answer A: The driver on the right
When two drivers stop at a four-way stop at the same time, the driver on the left yields to the driver on the right.
-
3. A bus stopped at the corner hides the crosswalk you are about to turn across. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer C: Turn slowly, ready to stop for anyone stepping out in front of it
People often step into the road from in front of a stopped bus, so approach the hidden crosswalk slowly and be ready to stop.
-
4. What single action does Maine allow a driver to perform on a telephone mounted in the vehicle?
Show answer
Answer A: One tap to activate or deactivate it
Maine permits a driver who is otherwise allowed to use hands-free mode to activate or deactivate a mounted device with a single touch.
-
5. You reach an intersection with no signs, signals or markings clearly before a vehicle that is approaching on your right. What is the rule?
Show answer
Answer B: You may go first because you got there first
At an uncontrolled intersection the first driver to arrive goes first; the yield to the right rule only settles a tie.
-
6. Why can a motorcycle ahead of you slow down without any warning light showing?
Show answer
Answer B: The rider may slow by downshifting or rolling off
Riders often lose speed by closing the throttle or changing down, which does not switch on the brake light, so watch the machine itself and keep back.
-
7. When should most of your braking for a turn be finished?
Show answer
Answer B: Before you begin to turn the wheel
Slow to the right speed before the turn begins; braking hard while turning uses up the grip the tires need for steering.
-
8. What does a yield sign require of a driver?
Show answer
Answer A: Slow down, and stop when necessary, so conflicting traffic can go first
A yield sign obliges the driver to reduce to a speed suited to conditions and to stop when needed so that conflicting traffic or pedestrians are not interfered with.
-
9. In heavy stop-and-go traffic, why does using both lanes right up to a merge point help?
Show answer
Answer D: It stores the queue in two lanes, so the backup is shorter
Filling both lanes halves the length of the queue and keeps it away from the traffic upstream, which is why alternating at the merge point works better when traffic is slow.
-
10. You face a red light at an intersection that has no stop line and no marked crosswalk. Where must you stop?
Show answer
Answer C: Before entering the intersection
With no line and no crosswalk, the stopping point is the near edge of the intersecting roadway, close enough to see cross traffic but clear of it.
-
11. An angry driver is following you closely and gesturing at you. What is the safe response?
Show answer
Answer B: Drive to a police station or to a busy public place and call for help
Never stop to confront an aggressive driver and never lead one home; go somewhere public and get the police involved.
-
12. Your light turns green, but a vehicle from the cross street is still finishing a turn inside the intersection. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer B: Wait until that vehicle has cleared the intersection
A green indication lets you proceed only after yielding to pedestrians in the crosswalk and to vehicles already lawfully within the intersection.
-
13. What is worth carrying in the vehicle during a winter trip?
Show answer
Answer A: A blanket, a flashlight, a scraper and a small shovel
A winter kit keeps you warm and visible if you are stopped for hours, and lets you clear glass and dig the wheels out. Hot water can crack cold glass.
-
14. What actually lowers the amount of alcohol in a person's blood?
Show answer
Answer D: The passage of time
The body eliminates alcohol at its own steady rate, so only time reduces blood alcohol. Coffee or a cold shower may make a person feel more awake while still impaired.
-
15. Which part of the space around your vehicle can you control best?
Show answer
Answer A: The space ahead of you
You choose your own following distance, so the gap in front is the space you truly control and the one that gives you time to react.
-
16. A stop line is painted across the pavement at this sign. Where must the vehicle come to rest?
Show answer
Answer A: Behind the stop line, with no part of the vehicle across it
The vehicle must halt behind the stop line; where no line is painted the driver stops before the crosswalk, and where there is neither, before entering the intersection.
-
17. You are turning left out of a driveway onto a busy two-way street. What must you do?
Show answer
Answer D: Wait for a gap in both directions before you start to move
The turn crosses one direction of traffic and joins the other, so you need a gap in both before leaving the driveway rather than stopping across a lane.
-
18. What color scheme does a standard stop sign use?
Show answer
Answer B: White legend and border on a red background
The stop sign carries a white legend and border on a red background, the color set aside for stop, yield and prohibition messages.
-
19. What condition does this sign warn a driver about?
Show answer
Answer B: Another road joins the road being traveled, from one side
It announces a side road entering the main roadway, so the driver should expect vehicles waiting to pull out and other vehicles slowing to turn in.
-
20. How much notice must a Maine applicant give the Bureau of Motor Vehicles to avoid an extra fee for a missed examination appointment?
Show answer
Answer B: 48 hours
Maine adds a fee when an applicant fails to keep an examination appointment unless the Bureau was notified at least 48 hours beforehand.
-
21. Which ability does alcohol usually affect first?
Show answer
Answer A: Judgment and self control
Alcohol reduces judgment and inhibition before a drinker notices any clumsiness, which is why an impaired driver often feels perfectly capable while already driving worse.
-
22. Why should a driver crossing several lanes change only one lane at a time?
Show answer
Answer B: Each lane has its own traffic and its own blind spot to be checked
Sweeping across two or three lanes means entering lanes you never checked, so each change gets its own signal, mirror check and head check.
-
23. Where among these is parking specifically prohibited?
Show answer
Answer A: On a bridge, in a tunnel or on railroad tracks
Bridges and tunnels have no safe refuge and cannot be widened, and a vehicle left on railroad tracks cannot be avoided by an approaching train.
-
24. You are on a city street with two lanes in your direction, cars parked along the curb and driveways every few yards. Which lane is usually safer?
Show answer
Answer B: The lane farther from the curb, away from opening doors and vehicles pulling out
Most of the hazards on such a street come from the curb side, so the inside lane gives you more space and more time to react.
-
25. The inside of your windshield keeps fogging up on a cold, damp day. What clears it best?
Show answer
Answer B: The defroster with the air conditioning on, which dries the air
Fog on the inside is moisture from the cabin air. The air conditioner dries that air, and the defroster warms the glass, so together they clear it and keep it clear.
-
26. You want to stop briefly and the only space is in the travel lane alongside a vehicle already parked at the curb. Is this allowed?
Show answer
Answer D: No, double parking blocks a travel lane and is prohibited
Stopping in the roadway beside a parked vehicle removes a lane from traffic and forces other drivers to swerve around you, which is why double parking is prohibited.
-
27. Why should heavy objects in the passenger compartment be secured?
Show answer
Answer A: Because loose objects fly forward in a crash and can injure the people
Anything loose keeps traveling at the speed of the vehicle when the vehicle stops, so it strikes the occupants with great force.
-
28. A high truck ahead of you hides the traffic signal as you approach the intersection. What should you do?
Show answer
Answer A: Drop back so you can see the signal and the truck's brake lights
Extra following distance restores your view of the signal, so you are reacting to the light yourself rather than copying the truck driver.
-
29. Why is heavy braking a poor idea while two wheels are still on a soft shoulder?
Show answer
Answer B: The two sides have different grip, so the vehicle can pull sharply
With one pair of wheels on pavement and the other on loose material, hard braking slows one side more than the other and swings the vehicle around.
-
30. At a four-way stop another driver pulls out ahead of you when it was clearly your turn. What is the correct response?
Show answer
Answer B: Let that driver go through, then take your turn when the way is clear again
Right of way is something you give, never something you take, so yielding to a driver who takes it wrongly avoids a crash you would otherwise share.