Permit and provisional — Maryland Permit Test
Permit and provisional on the Maryland permit test — 14 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
A learner's permit holder must have a supervising driver: at least 21 years old, licensed for at least three years to drive that class of vehicle, and seated beside you unless the vehicle is a motorcycle.
The seat beside you is part of the rule, because a supervisor who cannot reach the wheel is not supervising.
At least 21 years old. • Currently licensed for at least three years in Maryland or another state to drive the same class of vehicles that you are driving.
An applicant younger than 25 must be at least 15 years and 9 months old to apply for a learner's instructional permit.
It is the earliest date the process can start, and everything after it is measured from there.
Must be at least 15 years and 9 months old.
You must pass a vision screening and a knowledge test to get the learner's instructional permit, and the permit lasts up to 2 years.
Two years sounds long until you count the sixty practice hours it has to hold.
The Permit lasts up to 2 years. You must pass a vision screening and knowledge test to get the Permit.
An applicant under 18 must have a parent or legal guardian co-sign the application. A spouse who is 18 or older may co-sign, and where there is no parent, guardian or spouse a responsible adult may.
Somebody has to be answerable for the driving that follows, and the law says who.
If under age 18, your parent or legal guardian must co-sign the application.
An applicant under 16 must provide a completed Learner's Permit School Attendance Certification form.
Under sixteen the permit is tied to being in school, and the form is how that is shown.
If under age 16, you must provide a completed Learner's Permit School Attendance Certification form
While you hold the learner's instructional permit you must complete the Maryland Driver Education Program.
The course is a requirement of the permit, not an optional extra bought afterwards.
Complete the Maryland Driver Education Program.
An applicant younger than 25 must practice at least 60 hours with a supervising driver, of which at least 10 must fall between 30 minutes before sunset and 30 minutes after sunrise.
The night hours are separated out because that is where a new driver's judgment of distance fails first.
Practice driving at least 60 hours with a supervising driver.
An applicant 25 years old or older must complete at least 14 practice hours with a supervising driver, of which at least 3 must be in the hours around sunset and sunrise.
The requirement is shorter for an older applicant, but the night hours are still carved out of it.
Complete at least 14 practice hours with a supervising driver.
You must keep a Practice and Skills Log to record your practice hours.
The hours only count if they are written down, and the log is the only record the MVA takes.
Keep a Practice and Skills Log to record your practice hours.
You must hold the permit for at least 45 days before you are eligible for a provisional license.
It is the shortest the permit stage can be, whatever else you have finished.
You must have your permit for at least 45 days before the you are eligible for a Provisional License.
An applicant under 18 must hold the permit for at least 9 months without a violation before becoming eligible for a provisional license.
A conviction restarts the clock, which is why the permit stage is where habits matter most.
If you are under age 18, you must hold the Permit for at least 9 months without a violation before being eligible for a Provisional License.
An applicant of 18 with a high school diploma or GED, or aged 19 to 24, must hold the permit at least 3 months without a violation.
The waiting period shortens with age, but a violation resets it at any age.
you must hold the Permit for at least 3 months without a violation before being eligible for a Provisional License.
The knowledge test is taken at an MVA location. There are 25 questions and you have 20 minutes.
Twenty minutes for twenty-five questions is under fifty seconds each, so the reading has to be done beforehand.
There are 25 questions on the test. You will have 20 minutes to take the test.
To qualify for a driver's license you must have binocular vision, visual acuity of at least 20/40 in each eye, and a continuous field of vision of at least 140 degrees.
The screening is about whether you can see the road, and it is measured rather than asked about.
Visual acuity of at least 20/40 in each eye.
On the test
Who may supervise a learner's permit holder?
A driver of 21, licensed three years. The seat beside you is part of the rule, because a supervisor who cannot reach the wheel is not supervising. Maryland Driver's Manual, p.51: “At least 21 years old. • Currently licensed for at least three years in Maryland or another state to drive the same class of vehicles that you are driving.”
How this works
Most practice tests hand you a bank of questions and leave the manual somewhere else. This one puts them together.
You read one law and the reason behind it, then answer a question on that law while it is still fresh. Get it right and you move on; get it wrong and you have found the gap while it is cheap to fix, not on the morning of the exam.
Learning one rule at a time, and proving it immediately, is what turns a manual you skimmed into something you actually know — and it makes studying feel like getting somewhere rather than like waiting to find out.
What it costs
- One payment, once — not a subscription. Nothing renews and there is nothing to cancel, for an exam you sit one time.
- Free to start: a 10-question test and the first section of cards. No sign-up and no account.
- Paying opens the rest of the cards, unlimited full-length practice tests, and retests built from exactly the questions you got wrong.
- Every level up to Prepared — 3 tests passed in a row.
- Do the work, fail the real exam, and we refund you.
Where these come from
Every rule here is checked against Maryland Driver's Manual, published by the Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-06.