Protecting yourself in collisions — Maine Permit Test
Protecting yourself in collisions on the Maine permit test — 5 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
If you are about to be hit from the rear, be ready to brake so you are not pushed into another car.
A car shoved forward with no brake on can strike the car ahead and turn one crash into two.
Be ready to apply your brake so that you won't be pushed into another car.
If you are about to be hit from the rear and your car has head restraints, press the back of your head firmly against the restraint.
A head held forward snaps back hard when the car is struck from behind.
If your car has head restraints, press the back of your head firmly against the head restraint.
If you are about to be hit from the side, brace yourself with the steering wheel so you are not thrown against the side of the car.
A loose body is flung into the door on the side that is struck.
Brace yourself with the steering wheel to keep from being thrown against the side of the car.
If you are about to be hit from the front and are wearing a shoulder strap, use your arms and hands to protect your face.
Glass and loose objects fly toward the face in a head-on crash.
If you are wearing a shoulder strap, use your arms and hands to protect your face.
If you are about to be hit from the front and are not using a shoulder strap, throw yourself across the seat so you do not hit the steering column or windshield.
An unbelted driver who stays upright is thrown into the wheel and the glass.
If you are not using a shoulder strap, throw yourself across the seat so that you don't hit the steering column or the windshield.
On the test
You are about to be hit from behind. What should you be ready to do with the brake?
Apply it so you aren't pushed ahead. A car shoved forward with no brake on can strike the car ahead and turn one crash into two. Maine Driver’s License Manual, p.95: “Be ready to apply your brake so that you won't be pushed into another car.”
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)