Maine requires 70 hours of supervised driving, including at least 10 hours at night, before a teen can get an intermediate license. That total is the second highest in the country behind Oregon. Maine also requires driver education for anyone under 21 — commonly 30 hours of classroom, 10 hours behind the wheel, and 6 hours of observation — and the permit has to be held for at least six months. A parent or guardian certifies the supervised hours.
Maine supervised driving requirements at a glance
| Requirement | Maine |
|---|---|
| Total supervised hours | 70 hours |
| Night hours | 10 hours at night (of the 70) |
| Professional / instructor hours | Driver education is required for drivers under 21: commonly 30 hours classroom, 10 hours behind the wheel, and 6 hours observation. Those hours are separate from the 70. |
| Minimum permit age | 15 (learner's permit, with enrollment in driver education) |
| Permit holding period | 6 months on the permit before the intermediate license at 16 |
| Permit validity | Maine learner's permits are commonly issued for a 2-year term — check the expiration on yours |
| Who may supervise | A licensed driver at least 20 years old who has held a license for at least 2 years, or a driver education instructor, in the front passenger seat |
| Official log form | Maine requires certification of the supervised driving experience signed by a parent or guardian. Get the current form from the BMV or your driver education provider. |
| Certification method | Parent or guardian signs the certification of supervised driving experience |
| State app or program | None. Maine does not publish an official hour-logging app. |
Who can supervise practice driving in Maine
Maine sets the supervisor age lower than most states but adds an experience requirement.
- At least 20 years old and licensed for at least two years — Maine's age floor is 20, not 21, but the two-year experience rule still rules out recently licensed adults.
- A driver education instructor qualifies during course sessions.
- Front passenger seat, every drive.
Night hours, and what "night" means here
Ten of the 70 hours have to be at night. Maine's latitude makes this the easiest night requirement in the country to satisfy for half the year and the hardest for the other half: in December, Portland is dark by 4:05 PM, so the drive home from anything is a night drive. In June, sunset is after 8:20 PM. If your permit period spans a winter, the night hours will accumulate whether you plan them or not. What is worth doing deliberately: unlit Route 1 and inland two-lanes after dark, where moose and deer are a genuine hazard and the reflective markers are the only edge reference you get.
What counts as a loggable hour
- Public-road driving with a qualified supervisor counts. The trip to school, errands, highway miles, practice loops around the neighborhood — it all counts as long as the permit holder is at the wheel and the supervising driver is in the front passenger seat.
- Time parked, idling, or waiting in a drive-through does not count. Log driving time, not trip time.
- Empty parking lots and closed courses generally do not count. The point of the requirement is real traffic.
- Hours before the permit was issued do not count. The permit has to be in hand first.
- Winter road hours are the Maine skill. Snow, ice, and frost heaves are not on the state's list, but they are the conditions a new Maine driver will meet in their first solo month.
How to actually get to 70 hours
Seventy hours over a six-month permit period is close to three hours a week — the heaviest weekly pace of any state except Oregon. That is not something you fit in around the edges; it needs a schedule. The families that manage it treat every routine trip as a driving lesson from the day the permit is issued: school, groceries, hockey practice, the dump run. If the permit period is longer than six months, spread it out and the pace drops fast.
Official Maine resources
- Maine BMV — Teen Drivers — permit, driver education, and intermediate license requirements
- Maine Motorist Handbook — the handbook the written test comes from
Tracking your hours
Seventy hours is a lot of driving to remember. Maine's certification is signed by a parent, and the only honest way to sign a number that big is to have written it down along the way.
PermitReady is a free iPhone and iPad app that does two things: practice questions for the Maine BMV permit test, and a supervised driving hours log. Each drive is one entry — date, duration, and condition tags including night, highway, rain, and heavy traffic — with a running total at the top so you always know how far you have left to go. Entries can be backdated, so a log you started late can still be complete. It works offline, and there is no account to create: nothing is uploaded, and the log lives on the phone.
Honest limits: PermitReady does not detect drives automatically, does not use GPS, is iPhone and iPad only, and does not generate a signed state affidavit. It is a record you copy from when you fill in Maine's certification of supervised driving experience. If you would rather have automatic drive detection or an Android app, RoadReady has both — we compare them directly in PermitReady vs RoadReady. There is also a full write-up of the driving log and a set of printable paper templates if you would rather keep it on paper.
Frequently asked questions
How many supervised driving hours does Maine require?
70 hours, including at least 10 at night, before an intermediate license. Only Oregon's 100-hour requirement is higher.
Who can supervise practice driving in Maine?
A licensed driver at least 20 years old who has held a license for at least two years, or a driver education instructor, seated in the front passenger seat.
How many night hours does Maine require?
10 of the 70. Maine's early winter darkness — sunset around 4:05 PM in December — makes those hours easy to collect if the permit period spans a winter.
Is driver education required in Maine?
Yes, for drivers under 21. The course commonly runs 30 hours of classroom instruction, 10 hours behind the wheel, and 6 hours of observation, all separate from the 70 supervised hours.
Does Maine have an official driving log form?
Maine requires certification of the supervised driving experience signed by a parent or guardian. Get the current form from the BMV or your driver education provider.
Also for Maine
Maine permit test practice · Supervised driving hours log · Printable log templates · Supervised driving hours by state
Verification and disclaimers
Requirements verified August 2026 against Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles, Teen Drivers. Requirements change, and the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles can revise them without much notice — always confirm the current rules with the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles before your road test.
PermitReady's driving hours log is a personal tracking tool. It is not a state form and has not been approved or endorsed by any state licensing agency. Check with your state's DMV, RMV, DPS, BMV, or equivalent agency for which log format they require, and use their official state form if one is mandated.
RoadReady® is a registered trademark of Safe Roads Alliance, Inc. PermitReady is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Safe Roads Alliance, Inc.
PermitReady is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or approved by the Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles or any government agency.