Parallel parking — Maine Permit Test
Parallel parking on the Maine permit test — 4 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
To parallel park, pull up parallel to the vehicle you will park behind, stopping even with it but about 2 feet away.
Starting too close scrapes the other car; too far leaves you out in the lane.
Stop even with that vehicle but about 2 feet away from it.
While backing into a parallel space, continue until your front door passes the back bumper of the car ahead, then quickly straighten the wheels.
Turning too long swings your front corner into the car ahead.
Continue backing until your front door passes the back bumper of the car ahead, quickly straighten the wheels and continue to back straight.
When done parking, you should be about 6 inches from the curb, and not more than 18 inches away.
A car parked far from the curb sticks out into the lane where cars pass.
You should be about 6 inches from the curb but not more than 18 inches away from the curb when done parking.
When leaving a parallel space, move quickly into the traffic lane once your doorpost clears the rear bumper of the vehicle ahead.
Creeping out too early clips the car in front; lingering half out blocks the lane.
Move quickly into the traffic lane when the doorpost of your vehicle clears the rear bumper of the vehicle ahead of you.
On the test
How far from the car you will park behind should you stop beside it?
About 2 feet. Starting too close scrapes the other car; too far leaves you out in the lane. Maine Driver’s License Manual, p.71: “Stop even with that vehicle but about 2 feet away from it.”
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)