Lanes for through traffic — Maine Permit Test
Lanes for through traffic on the Maine permit test — 4 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
During ordinary driving, drive in the lane with the smoothest flow of traffic, the least stopping and starting.
A driver who keeps changing to the lane that stops and starts has less space and more near misses.
During ordinary driving, drive in the lane that has the smoothest flow of traffic - the least stopping and starting.
If there are three or more lanes going one way, the middle lane or lanes are usually the smoothest.
The outside lanes stop and start for cars turning and entering, so the driver there brakes more often.
If there are three or more lanes going in one direction, the middle lane, or lanes, is usually the smoothest.
On a road with three or more lanes one way, the left lane is for passing or turning left, and the right lane is for slower drivers and those entering or turning off.
A slow car in the left lane makes passing drivers weave around it on the right.
The right lane is used by drivers who go slower or who are entering or turning off the road.
If a road has only two lanes in one direction, the right lane generally has the smoothest traffic flow.
A driver cruising in the left of two lanes is in the way of every car that needs to pass.
If a road has only two lanes in one direction, the right lane generally has the smoothest traffic flow.
On the test
During ordinary driving, which lane should you use?
The one with the smoothest flow. A driver who keeps changing to the lane that stops and starts has less space and more near misses. Maine Driver’s License Manual, p.55: “During ordinary driving, drive in the lane that has the smoothest flow of traffic - the least stopping and starting.”
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)