Space cushion — Maine Permit Test
Space cushion on the Maine permit test — 2 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
The space you leave between your vehicle and other road users is called a space cushion; the more space you allow, the more time you have to react.
With no gap around you, someone else's mistake becomes your crash.
The more space you allow between your vehicle and other roadway users, the more time you give yourself to react. This is called a space cushion.
Try to keep a cushion of space on all sides of your vehicle, suited to the speed and road conditions.
A car that swerves at you from the side needs room just as much as one that stops ahead.
In general, you should try to keep a cushion of space on all sides of your motor vehicle which should properly consider the existing speed and road conditions.
On the test
What does the manual call the space you leave between your car and other road users?
A space cushion. With no gap around you, someone else's mistake becomes your crash. Maine Driver’s License Manual, p.85: “The more space you allow between your vehicle and other roadway users, the more time you give yourself to react. This is called a space cushion.”
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)