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Louisiana · Permit test

The Louisiana driving test: road skills, scoring and your car

You start the road skills test with 100 points, lose points for each mistake, and pass with 80 or more. Your driving school or another approved third-party tester can give the Louisiana driving test, and so can an OMV office. You need it for an intermediate license, or for a full license if you start at 17 or older.

  • 80Points out of 100 to pass
  • $0Road test at an OMV office
  • 1 to 30 daysWait before a retest
Read the OMV road test policy

Updated October 2026 · Written from official sources, listed at the bottom of this page

Where do you take the Louisiana driving test?

If you took driver ed at a private driving school, you go back to that school or another third-party tester for the road test. Private schools must offer it. High school driver ed programs don’t have to, so their students can test at an OMV office or with a third-party tester. Some OMV offices schedule road tests, and some don’t give them between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

A third-party tester charges its own fee and may lend you a car for a rental fee. It gives you your result in a sealed envelope, which you take to the OMV unopened. The road test certificate is good for five years.

Drivers ed classes in Louisiana →

What the examiner scores

  • Starting and backing out
  • Straight-in parking
  • Three left turns and three right turns
  • Two lane changes
  • Two traffic signals, two intersections and two stop signs
  • Speed, following distance and lane use
  • Yielding the right-of-way
  • Attention to the road, and time

A railroad crossing is on the list but isn’t required on every route. The examiner won’t ask you to do anything illegal.

What fails you

  • Enough small mistakes to fall below 80, such as driving 5 mph over the limit or rolling through a stop sign
  • A clear traffic violation, such as running a red light or not yielding to an emergency vehicle
  • A dangerous action, such as the examiner having to grab the wheel or brake
  • An at-fault crash, including bumping a fixed object or running onto a lawn
  • Refusing to follow directions, or offering the examiner anything to pass

The car you bring

At an OMV office you bring the car. It must be registered and insured, you can’t be listed as an excluded driver on the insurance, and the speedometer and seat belts must work. OMV policy 12.00 also asks for a current inspection, but Act 701 of 2026 ends the inspection sticker for personal vehicles from January 1, 2027 (later in parishes under the federal Clean Air Act program), so check what your office asks for after that date. You show proof of insurance and do a safety equipment check before you drive. Loose objects come out of the car, and only you, the examiner and an interpreter, if you need one, ride along.

The OMV doesn’t give road tests in bad weather, or when the heat index is above 100 degrees and the car has no working air conditioning. If you’re a minor, a parent or guardian comes with you to sign and show the car is insured.

The intermediate license in Louisiana →

If you don’t pass

The examiner tells you what to work on and gives you a date to come back, anywhere from 1 to 30 days away depending on why you failed. If you don’t have a permit yet, the examiner may suggest a learner’s permit so you can practice legally.

Louisiana learner’s permit rules →
Sources: Louisiana OMV · Louisiana Legislature and 3 more. Checked October 2026.

Rules and fees can change, so check the official site before your test.

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