On the skills exam, a BMV examiner only watches and scores you on a standardized form. There is no coaching. Know what gets your car rejected, what costs points, and what ends the test on the spot.
A skills exam with a BMV examiner is required for:
- Permit holders who haven't passed a skills exam with an approved driver training school
- New residents under 18 who held an unrevoked out-of-state license at least 180 days but under one year
- New residents whose out-of-state license expired more than five years ago, or with an out-of-country license
- Indiana residents whose Indiana license has been expired more than five years
- Drivers with a BMV restriction that requires testing
- Drivers with a medical complaint on file, or when the BMV medical board recommends an evaluation
- Military member, spouse or dependent: license expired over five years, back from deployment over 90 days
- Discharged military: out-of-state license expired over five years and beyond the military extension
Know the rule
Only the BMV examiner(s) or other authorized BMV staff may ride in your car. It must be legally equipped, insured, safe, and clean, and you must show its current registration.
Handbook p. 11 ↗Examples of reasons the examiner may reject your vehicle:
- Not properly registered
- Unsafe tires
- Missing bumper
- Broken glass or mirrors
- Door inoperative
You are evaluated on:
- Proper lane use: obeying markings, looking carefully, signaling before changing lanes
- Leaving enough distance behind the vehicle ahead
- Keeping your speed and giving room when another vehicle passes you
- Controlling speed for posted limits and traffic conditions
- Good defensive driving habits
- Listening to instructions and observing traffic flow
- Approaching intersections at proper speed, looking, and stopping completely when required
- Reversing, and backing correctly out of a parking space
Mistakes that lower your score or can fail you:
- Not using the defroster or wipers when needed
- Not having both hands on the wheel; selecting the wrong gear
- Failing to signal, or leaving the signal on after a lane change
- Driving too slowly or stopping unnecessarily
- Overrunning a crosswalk, stop line, or stop sign
- Turning into or from the wrong lane
- Not checking your blind spot; slowing down while changing lanes
- Reversing too fast
- Driving too close to the vehicle ahead or to a parked vehicle
Automatic failure, part 1:
- Disobeying a yield, stop, school zone, or no-turn-on-red sign
- Disobeying a traffic signal
- Backing over a curb, or driving into a parked vehicle
- Failing to follow instructions or to use a seat belt
- Failing to react to hazardous driving conditions
- Speeding, or driving too fast for the conditions
- Causing an accident during the exam
- Failing to yield the right of way
Automatic failure, part 2:
- Turning into or using the wrong lane
- Passing in a no-passing zone or otherwise crossing a solid yellow line
- Driving left of the center of the street
- Straddling marked lanes
- Driving too close to pedestrians or bicycles
- Not pulling over and stopping for emergency vehicles or school buses
- Not obeying the laws for railroad crossings
Know the rule
The examiner decides whether to continue the exam after you have failed.
Handbook p. 12 ↗Wait after failing a driving skills exam before you can retake it
Handbook p. 12 ↗Wait after your third failed skills exam on a permit, counted from the last failure
Handbook p. 12 ↗Put it into practice
On your exam you roll through a stop sign while turning right. Disobeying a stop sign is an automatic failure. You must wait seven days before retaking the exam.