Teen Drivers Ed in Maine, Step by Step for Families

Before you enroll: why the course comes first

Maine's driver education law, 29-A M.R.S. section 1351, says no license goes to an applicant under 18 who lacks a certificate showing they completed an approved course and its exam. The BMV builds that into the permit step as well: the certificate is one of the documents in an under 18 permit application. So think of the course as the front door, not something you squeeze in later.

Two groups are outside the rule. A teen who already holds a valid license from another jurisdiction can have the requirement waived, and anyone 18 or older is never required to take the course.

To shop for a school, start with the List of Driver Education Schools on the BMV's student information page. The version posted now was updated in May 2026. When you call, ask three things: how many weeks the classroom portion runs, how drives are booked around school and sports, and what the quoted price covers. If a school lets you down, the BMV has a Driver Education Complaint Form.

During the course: what your teen will actually do

Every approved school teaches the curriculum set by the Secretary of State's Chapter 9 rules: 30 classroom hours and 10 behind-the-wheel hours. The rules also pace the course. Classroom time tops out at three hours in a day and 10 hours in any seven days, and driving lessons stop at two hours a day. A class cannot have more than 30 students for one instructor.

The school checks your teen's eyes before the first drive. If the better eye cannot reach 20/40 even with glasses or contacts, your teen needs a statement from an eye care professional before getting behind the wheel. Expect the training car to have the school's name on it, a student driver sign, and a brake on the passenger side that works.

At the end comes a final exam of at least 30 questions, and the passing mark is 80 percent. You also take part. The parental involvement requirement can be met in more than one way, for instance by sitting in on two hours of class or riding in the back for one hour of a lesson.

Ask for paperwork on day one. A licensed school has to give you its written refund and cancellation policy at enrollment, listing every fee and stating that the Secretary of State regulates driver education. If your teen misses sessions, there are six months to make them up, and any licensed Maine school that teaches the missed topics can provide the makeup.

• Classroom: 30 hours
• Driving with an instructor: 10 hours
• Final exam pass mark: 80 percent
• A parent piece you complete yourself

Online options: what is and is not allowed

A fully online course will not satisfy Maine. Chapter 9 lets schools approved for digital instruction use internet lessons, video and distance learning, but only alongside traditional classroom teaching, never in place of it.

So ask each school how much of its classroom time is delivered digitally, and confirm it is licensed in Maine. State law recognizes public high schools, approved private high schools, career and technical education centers, and people licensed by the Secretary of State as course providers.

Right after the course: the certificate doubles as a short permit

Schools can only issue a completion certificate to a student who was at least 15 when classes began. Once your teen has it, the certificate is a stand-in permit for ordinary Class C driving (not commercial), good for 60 days counted from the completion date shown on the paper.

Here is how that plays out. Say your teen turns 15 in February, starts classes in March and finishes in late May. From the completion date, there are 60 days of legal practice on the certificate while you wait for the BMV written test. During that window your teen carries the certificate and drives only with a licensed operator in the front passenger seat who is 20 or older and has held a license at least two years.

Applying for the permit

The permit itself requires an applicant who is at least 15 and passes the written exam. In the envelope: the form, $35, the course certificate, a pair of ID documents, something proving Maine residency, and a birth certificate (required for anyone under 23). The BMV picks the exam site nearest your mailing address and sends a letter with the date, typically about three weeks later.

A permit is good for two years and cannot be renewed. If it runs out, your teen applies again and retakes the vision and written exams. The practice hours already logged still count, and there is no fresh waiting period before the road test.

The practice months: 70 hours and six months

Every permit holder under 21 logs 70 hours behind the wheel, 10 of them after dark. Only drives after the permit was issued count. The person beside your teen has to be 20 or older and licensed for at least two years.

Six months on the permit is the minimum before a road test, and your teen may not use a cellphone at all while driving on a permit. Keep the record on form MVE-21, the permittee driving log, because a driver under 21 schedules the road test by mailing in that completed log.

A practical pace: 70 hours over six months works out to roughly three hours a week. Spread the 10 night hours across the calendar so your teen drives in early winter darkness as well as summer evenings.

After the road test: the 270 day intermediate license

Pass the road test before 18 and the license is intermediate for 270 days. In that time your teen cannot drive between midnight and 5 a.m., cannot use a mobile phone while driving, and cannot carry passengers outside the immediate family unless a qualifying licensed operator is also in the car.

Immediate family is broader than many parents expect. It covers parents, stepparents, grandparents, brothers and sisters, stepsiblings, and also a foreign exchange student or a child under guardianship who lives in your home.

The phone limit applies even at a red light. The one exception is pulling completely off the road and stopping safely. State law, 29-A M.R.S. section 1311, also allows you to put a pair of small decals on the car, one on the rear window and one on the front windshield, that signal to police the driver may hold an intermediate license.

If something goes wrong: penalties and reinstatement

Section 1311 makes a broken intermediate limit an infraction with a fine between $250 and $500. Your teen also loses the license for a while (60 days the first time, 180 the second, a full year after that), and the 270 day clock resets.

There is a second layer. Every first license granted to someone under 21 carries juvenile provisional status for two years. Once the intermediate period has ended, a conviction for any moving violation during those two years still triggers a suspension: 30 days the first time, 180 days the second and one year the third.

To drive again, your teen may need to finish an approved traffic offender course, pay $200 for reinstatement and pass another road exam. On the money side, it is worth asking your insurer whether a driver education certificate earns your teen a lower premium.

Moving to Maine with a teen who already drives

Families who move here have 30 days to switch to Maine licenses. If your teen already has a valid license from another state, the law lets it substitute for Maine driver education, and the BMV may not make your teen retake the written or road test.

Arriving with a 16 year old who holds a valid learner's permit from back home? Practice can continue under Maine permit rules, with a supervisor aged 20 or more and licensed two years. For the switch to a Maine permit, the BMV examination section answers at 207-624-9000, extension 52119.