Starting Jan. 1, 2027, an Indiana teenager studying road signs at the kitchen table may not need to sit down at a BMV branch to prove it. A state law passed this year lets people applying for a permit or driver’s license meet the written knowledge requirement by completing an online exam approved by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.
The change is in House Enrolled Act 1200, and the enrolled text of the bill marks the provision as taking effect on that date. The online option sits beside the existing ways to take the test, rather than replacing them.
What the Online Option Covers
The law amends the section of Indiana Code that governs how applicants are examined. It applies to people who must pass the test on reading and understanding highway signs and the test on Indiana traffic laws. Under the current text, those applicants appear before a member of the bureau or commission, or before an instructor holding the proper endorsement. HEA 1200 adds a third path: satisfactorily completing an online examination approved by the bureau.
In plain terms, a studying teen or a new resident could one day take the written portion from home instead of at a counter. It is one of several changes arriving for drivers at the start of the new year, much like the end of the yearly inspection sticker for personal vehicles in Louisiana on the same date…