The MO driving test (driving skills test)

When can you take the MO driving test?

If you're under 18, you need an instruction permit held for at least 182 days and 40 hours of practice, 10 of them at night. Bring your permit; one that expired no more than six months ago is accepted for the test, but not for driving to it. If you're new to driving at 18 or older, you take the driving test after the other three parts too.

Non-CDL driving tests are walk-in. Some stations also take bookings through MyDMV, and the Highway Patrol suggests using them where they're offered.

What's checked on the driving test

First the examiner asks you to find and use controls such as the wipers and turn signals. Then you drive where you're told and are scored on:

• Smooth, safe starts and stops, and your reaction time
• Parallel parking
• Backing in a straight line while looking over your right shoulder
• At least two right and two left turns, from and into the right lane
• Parking on a hill, no more than 18 inches from the curb, with the wheels turned and the brake set
• Intersections, full stops at stop signs and yielding
• Following distance, speed, lane use and awareness of traffic

Parallel parking: the space is 25 by 7 feet

The Driver Guide gives the Missouri parallel parking dimensions: a space 25 feet long and seven feet wide. You're scored on your position before backing, not hitting the markers, ending up no more than 18 inches from the curb and near the center, and finishing within two minutes. Missing it doesn't fail you on its own. The Highway Patrol says it's worth only a few points.

What makes you fail at once

Losing more than 30 points fails the test. So does any of these, whatever your score:

• A crash with another vehicle that's your fault
• Hitting a pedestrian
• Driving so dangerously that you could have caused a crash
• Breaking a traffic law
• Refusing to drive as the examiner asks

What your car needs

You bring the car. It doesn't have to be in your name, but it must be registered and insured, with current plates and a valid inspection sticker. It needs working seat belts, doors that open for you and the examiner, a clean, safe seat for the examiner, a parking brake and foot brake, and a horn. The examiner also checks brake lights and turn signals. A check engine light usually isn't a problem, but a windshield crack that blocks either of your views can be.

Only you and the examiner ride. If you drive yourself to the station on a permit, the licensed driver with you must be at least 21.

If you fail, and if you pass

You can take one driving test a day, statewide, and three in all. After a third fail, you need the Department of Revenue's permission to test again, which usually means logging 20 hours of practice and sending in the log.

When you pass, you get a test result form, which isn't valid for driving. For an intermediate license, a parent, grandparent or legal guardian goes with you to a license office to confirm your 40 hours, and you pay $14, as of October 2026.