Carrying loads and passengers — Maine Permit Test
Carrying loads and passengers on the Maine permit test — 4 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
In Maine, a passenger vehicle should not carry a load that extends beyond the line of the fenders on the left side.
A load sticking out on the driver's side can hit oncoming traffic or a passing car.
No passenger type vehicle should carry a load which extends over the sides of the vehicle beyond the line of the fenders on the left side, or extends more than six inches beyond the line of the fenders on the right side of the vehicle.
In Maine, a passenger vehicle should not carry a load that extends more than six inches beyond the line of the fenders on the right side.
A load that sticks far out on the right can strike mailboxes, cyclists and people on the edge of the road.
No passenger type vehicle should carry a load which extends over the sides of the vehicle beyond the line of the fenders on the left side, or extends more than six inches beyond the line of the fenders on the right side of the vehicle.
You must not drive with more than 3 people in the front seat if they block your view to the front or sides, or if the load interferes with your use of the controls.
A crowded front seat hides the side mirror and crowds the driver's arms on the wheel.
You must not drive a vehicle if it is so loaded, or when there are more than 3 persons in the front seat so that your view is obstructed to the front or to the sides, or so that the load interferes with your use of the vehicle controls.
No one may ride in a camp trailer, mobile home, semi-trailer, utility trailer or the trunk of a vehicle while it is driven on a highway.
A rider in a trailer or trunk has no seat, no belt and no way to signal the driver in a crash.
No person may ride in a camp trailer, mobile home, semi-trailer, utility trailer or trunk of a vehicle while it is being driven or moved on any highway.
On the test
How far should a load extend beyond the fenders on the left side of a passenger vehicle?
Not past them at all. A load sticking out on the driver's side can hit oncoming traffic or a passing car. Maine Driver’s License Manual, p.119: “No passenger type vehicle should carry a load which extends over the sides of the vehicle beyond the line of the fenders on the left side, or extends more than six inches beyond the line of the fenders on the right side of the vehicle.”
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 Maine Driver’s License Manual, published by the Maine Secretary of State, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-10-05.
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/ME.pdf (Maine Driver’s License Manual, Rev 4/24, Maine Secretary of State, Bureau of Motor Vehicles, retrieved 2026-10-04; sha256 pinned in SOURCES.json)
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/ME.pages.txt (scripts/me-text.sh: plain pdftotext except physical 82, which is -layout; the fixture every citation here was cut from and verified against; sha256 pinned in SOURCES.json)
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/ME-exam.html (Maine BMV, Drivers License Exam page, https://www.maine.gov/sos/bmv/driver-licenses-and-ids/car-license/drivers-license-exam, read 2026-10-04; states both exam figures; sha256 pinned under examSource)
- https://www.maine.gov/sos/bmv/driver-licenses-and-ids/car-license/driver-license-manual-and-Maine-motorist-handbook-and-study-guide (read 2026-10-04; links the manual)