Driving Tests, the Rookie Driver Graduated Licensing System and Other Requirements: the Vision Standards, the 25-Question Knowledge Test, the Skills Test Vehicle and Supervising Driver, Reportable Medical Conditions, Required Documents, Type 1 and Type 2 Learner's Permits, Ages, Co-Signers, Driver Education, the 60-Hour and 14-Hour Practice Logs, the 45-Day, 9-Month and 3-Month Holding Periods, the Provisional License and the 18-Month Road to a Full License, Out-of-Country Licenses, Interpreters and Accommodations, Supervising Driver Rules, Organ Donation, Voting, Insurance, Seat Belts, Child Safety Seats, Air Bags, ABS, Headsets and the Driving Course Maneuvers
Written for aiforu2 as the source for a practice-test bank and the on-device tutor for the Maryland MVA knowledge test. The facts follow the official manual; the wording is ours.
Source: Maryland Driver's Manual (MDOT Motor Vehicle Administration, DL-002, December 2025 edition), Sections 1, 2 and 10 (pages 7–12 and 51–54).
The three tests
Getting a license means passing a vision screening, a knowledge test and a driving skills test, plus any extra requirements the MVA sets. Vision: you need binocular vision, acuity of at least 20/40 in each eye and a continuous field of at least 140 degrees, screened by the MVA or your eye doctor; if lenses get you there, your license will require them. The knowledge test covers motor vehicle laws, safe driving practices and traffic signs, has 25 questions, allows 20 minutes, and is taken at an MVA location; the Online Driver Test Tutorial on the MVA website offers practice. The skills test combines public roads and a special course and requires an appointment, made online or by phone. Bring your own vehicle with current plates and registration, proof of insurance, safe condition, an unobstructed windshield and at least a half tank of gas; a supervising driver must accompany you to the site, but during the test only you and the examiner, plus an MVA-approved interpreter, may ride. State law requires you to report any medical condition that could affect your driving.
Applying and the graduated system
Apply for a noncommercial Class C license by appointment at any branch with a document proving your age and full name (birth certificate or passport), proof of lawful status if born outside the U.S., your Social Security number or proof you are ineligible for one, and two documents proving Maryland residence; only originals or agency-certified copies are accepted, never photocopies, notarized copies or altered documents. Anyone who has never held a license, at any age, goes through the Rookie Driver Graduated Licensing System: a Learner's Instructional Permit, then a Provisional License, then a Driver's License. A Type 1 permit lasts up to two years and requires the vision screening and knowledge test; a Type 2 permit, for drivers who already hold a license and want another class, requires age 16 years and 6 months, lasts up to 180 days, and allows the skills test after 14 days. Applicants under 25 must be at least 15 years and 9 months, have a parent or guardian co-sign if under 18, and provide a school attendance certification (DL-300) if under 16. Under 25 you must complete the Maryland Driver Education Program and log at least 60 practice hours with a supervising driver, 10 of them between 30 minutes before sunset and 30 minutes after sunrise, on the Practice and Skills Log; at 25 and older, driver education plus 14 hours with 3 at night. Everyone holds the permit at least 45 days. A conviction or probation before judgment for a moving violation, or any suspension, means holding the permit at least 9 months after the latest one; under 18 you must hold it 9 months without a violation; at 18 with a diploma or GED, or from 19 to 24, 3 months without a violation.
Provisional and full licenses
A Provisional License allows unsupervised driving with restrictions and is held at least 18 months. To earn it you need completed driver education, a valid permit held violation-free for the required time, no moving-violation convictions or probation before judgment during that time, the signed log showing 60 hours (14 at 25 or older), and a passed skills test. A Driver's License requires age 18, 18 months on the Provisional License and no moving-violation convictions or probation before judgment in the past 18 months; the MVA switches you automatically and mails a card to carry with the Provisional License. Minors need a parent or guardian to co-sign with proof of the relationship (a birth certificate or guardianship papers); a spouse 18 or older may co-sign with proof of marriage, or a responsible adult such as an employer with proof of the parents' death or emancipation. A co-signer may cancel a minor's license in writing, and it stays canceled until 18 unless a new co-signer signs. Holders of another country's license must pass the vision screening, knowledge test and skills test and complete a three-hour approved roadway safety program, with an International License or a certified translation if the license is not in English. If the knowledge test exists in your language you must attempt it five times before using an interpreter; interpreters are paid by you and may not provide other services. Accommodations include extra time, sign language, oral testing, screen readers and headphones, and a voluntary blue Developmental Disability Disclosure Card can travel with your license. Littering fines run up to $1,500 or 30 days in jail.
Medical conditions and supervising drivers
Report, when applying or when diagnosed, diabetes with a low-blood-sugar episode needing help in the past 6 months, epilepsy or seizures, a heart condition causing loss of consciousness in the past 6 months, stroke, dizzy spells, fainting or blackouts, sleep apnea or narcolepsy, traumatic brain injury, weakness, shaking or numbness of limbs, a missing or non-functioning limb, vision below 20/70 corrected in at least one eye or a field under 110 degrees, alcohol or drug problems, mental health conditions affecting driving, schizophrenia and dementia. A permit holder drives only the vehicles on the permit with a supervising driver who is at least 21, licensed for at least three years for that class, and seated beside the driver except on a motorcycle.
Donation, voting, insurance and restraints
Anyone 18 or older may be an organ donor, and minors at least 16 with written parental consent; checking YES sends your information to the Maryland Organ Donor Registry. Under the Motor Voter law you may register or update voting information with any license or ID transaction. Every registered vehicle must be insured by a Maryland-licensed company for liability, you must carry the insurance card (electronic is fine) and show it on request, and failing to keep insurance brings fines up to $2,500 per vehicle per year. The driver and every passenger must wear a seat belt or ride in a child safety seat. Children under 8 ride in a child safety seat unless 4 feet 9 inches or taller, and children under 2 ride rear-facing until they outgrow the seat's height or weight limit; Kids In Safety Seats rents seats at low cost. With air bags, wear the lap and shoulder belt, keep 10 to 12 inches between chest and wheel, pregnant women wear the lap belt under the abdomen and the shoulder belt over the belly, rear-facing seats never go in front of a passenger air bag, and children under 13 ride in the back. ABS pumps the brakes faster than you can when a wheel starts to lock, with a rumble and a vibrating pedal. You may not drive with earplugs, headsets or earphones in both ears; hearing aids are allowed. Parallel parking is no longer tested; the course tests pull-in parking, back-in parking in a 10-by-20-foot space and a three-point turn in a 16-by-20-foot space, judging space, mirrors, signals, steering, braking and acceleration.
Practise this with Maryland Driver License questions
More of this guide
Risk management, defensive driving and visual search, every right-of-way rule from four-way stops to entrance ramps, posted limits as maximums and matching traffic speed, why speeding kills, when to slow down, the 3-to-4-second following distance and 4 to 5 seconds behind buses, what sets stopping distance, keeping right, turning steps, U-turns into the right-hand lane, passing on the left and when the right is allowed, the no-passing list including 100 feet of intersections, railroads, bridges and tunnels, and the general parking rules.
Who can override traffic control devices, dead signals, every vehicle signal from steady red and turns on red to flashing red arrows and lane use signals, crosswalk beacons, sign colors including fluorescent pink and black, sign shapes including the trapezoid and crossbuck, stop and yield signs, regulatory signs including HOV and two-way left lanes, warning signs, overhead, route, service and mile marker signs, every line marking from broken white to double solid yellow and dotted lines, stop and yield lines, SCHOOL and RxR markings, shared-use markings, crosswalks and bike lanes, with pictures of the signs.
The yellow-on-your-left rule, headlights at 1,000 feet and with wipers, low beams at 500 and 300 feet, night driving, fog, wet roads and pumping brakes without ABS, bridges that freeze first and black ice, snow emergency routes and the emergency kit, skid recovery, hydroplaning, railroad crossings and the vehicles that must stop, work zones and their amber, blue and green lights, traffic circle rules and exiting from the outside lane, interstate entering, exiting and stopping, funeral processions through red lights, and slow-moving vehicles at 25 mph.
The .08 limit and why any alcohol impairs, under-21 drinking, open containers including six-packs, drugs and medication warnings, doubled penalties with a child aboard, aggressive driving, distracted driving and the hand-held phone ban with no phones at all under 18, drowsy driving danger signs, pedestrian right-of-way and crosswalks, emergency vehicles and the move-over duty, trucks and their four no-zones, school buses and the 20-foot rule, motorcycles and the 3-to-4-second gap, bicycles as vehicles and the 3-foot law, mopeds on roads posted 50 mph or less, driver assistance systems, bicyclist equipment and electric bicycle classes.
What to do after a crash with and without injuries, leaving-the-scene penalties of 5 and 10 years, when the police must be called, unattended property and animals, finding a safe place after a breakdown and avoiding the ramp triangle, behavior during a traffic stop, Move Over fines of $110, $150 and $750 and their points, provisional restrictions including the 151-day passenger rule and midnight-to-5 a.m. curfew, implied consent, fake IDs, revocation, cancellation and suspension, provisional penalties for minors and adults, the 18-month clean period, and disability parking violations.