Massachusetts road test checklist
For your behind-the-wheel drive test. Print it, or keep it open on your phone.
Bring
- A completed road test application. Under 18, your parent or guardian fills in the consent section.
- Your printed learner's permit.
- A qualified sponsor, carrying their current license.
- A properly equipped, legally registered car, with its registration certificate.
- Book, cancel or reschedule the test online at Mass.Gov/RMV. Arrive about 15 minutes early: if you're late, you won't be tested.
Manual page 22.
Your sponsor
- At least 21, with at least a year of driving experience.
- Holds a valid license from their home state. A foreign license doesn't qualify.
- Sits in the seat behind you. Without a sponsor, there's no Class D road test.
Manual page 23.
The car
- Safe, inspected and registered, with a seat beside you for the examiner and one behind you for your sponsor.
- A parking brake the examiner can reach in an emergency. A central one is safest.
- No donut spare tire.
- Rented? Bring the rental contract and a letter on the company's letterhead allowing a road test.
- Registered out of state? Bring proof of insurance up to the Massachusetts minimums.
Manual pages 23 and 24.
What the examiner checks
- Hand signals, starting and stopping, and turns left and right.
- Parallel parking, and backing up about 50 feet.
- Starting, stopping and turning on a hill, and a three-point turn between curbs.
- Intersections, signs and signals, yielding, following distance and safe speeds.
- Both hands on the wheel, the proper lane, and a careful look and a signal before changing lanes.
Manual pages 25 and 26.
Under 18, before you book
- You're at least 16½ and have held your learner's permit for 6 months in a row.
- 6 months in a row with a clean driving record before the test.
- Driver education done: 30 hours in class, 12 hours behind the wheel and 6 hours watching other students drive.
- At least 40 more hours of supervised driving, signed off by a parent or guardian.
- If you fail or miss a road test, you wait at least 14 days before the next one.
Manual pages 9, 10 and 22.
From the Massachusetts Driver's Manual (revised April 2026): Chapter 1, Obtaining your license, pages 9 and 10 and 19 to 26. Road test videos and booking: Mass.Gov/RMV (page 24).
Checked against these sources on October 24, 2026.