Forty free questions built around the Minnesota DVS written test: road signs, speed limits, school bus stops, hands-free and DWI laws, and teen driving rules. Choose an answer and see the reason in a second.
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Four rounds of 10 questions that move between Minnesota road signs, right-of-way, speed limits, parking, DWI and phone laws, winter driving and teen rules. Pick an answer and the reason appears right away.
An orange diamond-shaped ROAD WORK AHEAD sign comes up on a Minnesota highway. What does it tell you, and what does speeding in the work zone cost?
Correct answer: Road work lies ahead; a $300 fine on top of the ticket
Why
Orange is the color of construction and maintenance zones, where lanes shift and workers stand just feet from traffic. Minnesota hits work zone speeders with a $300 fine on top of the regular ticket. Ease off before the first cone, follow any flagger and stick to any lower limit posted for the zone.
You and another driver arrive together where two streets cross with no sign or light. The other car, coming from your right, is going well over the speed limit. What does Minnesota law say about its right-of-way?
Correct answer: It loses the right-of-way it would otherwise have
Why
Normally, when two vehicles reach an uncontrolled intersection together, the driver on the left yields to the driver on the right. Minnesota adds that a driver going faster than the legal speed forfeits any right-of-way. Even so, never assume a speeder will yield: slow down and be ready to stop.
You’re driving through a small Minnesota town on a street lined with houses and stores, and you haven’t seen a speed limit sign. What’s the limit?
Correct answer: 30 mph
Why
Minnesota’s default is 30 mph on urban and town roads, 10 mph in alleys and 55 mph on other roads, unless a sign says otherwise. Some cities set 25 mph on residential streets, but that lower limit applies only where it’s posted. Without a sign, 30 is the number.
How much space must you leave between your parked car and a fire hydrant in Minnesota?
Correct answer: 10 feet
Why
Minnesota’s parking law keeps cars at least 10 feet from a fire hydrant so fire crews can reach it quickly. The same law asks for 20 feet from an intersection crosswalk and 30 feet before a stop sign, flashing beacon or traffic signal. When a spot is borderline, find another one.
You’re 19 and had one glass of wine at a family wedding. Under Minnesota law, can you drive home?
Correct answer: No: under 21, driving after drinking any amount of alcohol is illegal
Why
Minnesota’s Not a Drop law makes it illegal for anyone under 21 to drive after drinking any amount of alcohol. The penalty is a 30-day license suspension, or 180 days for a repeat, and at 0.08 or above the full DWI law takes over instead. Hand the keys to a sober driver or call a ride.
What must a 15-year-old in Minnesota complete before applying for an instruction permit?
Correct answer: 30 hours of classroom driver ed, plus enrollment in behind-the-wheel training
Why
Minnesota teens can get an instruction permit at 15 once they’ve finished 30 hours of classroom driver ed and enrolled in behind-the-wheel lessons. In a concurrent course, the first 15 classroom hours are enough to start. Bring the Blue Card, or the Pink Card for a concurrent course, to the written test.
What following distance does the Minnesota Driver’s Manual recommend, and when should you add more?
Correct answer: Three seconds, stretched to four or five in poor conditions
Why
Use a fixed marker such as a sign: when the vehicle ahead passes it, count off the seconds until you reach it. Fewer than three means you’re too close. In rain, snow or a longer vehicle, stretch the gap to four or five seconds.
You’re following a school bus on a two-lane road when it stops, flashes its red lights and swings out its stop arm. How close may you stop to the bus in Minnesota?
Correct answer: No closer than 20 feet
Why
In Minnesota, a school bus showing flashing red lights means you halt 20 feet or more away from it and wait there until the lights go dark. Since a 2026 change in the law, the flashing reds alone mean stop, even if the stop arm never comes out. Fines start at $500, and flashing amber lights are your warning that the bus is about to stop.
You’re behind a bicyclist on a two-lane road marked as a no-passing zone. Oncoming traffic is clear. What does Minnesota law allow?
Correct answer: Crossing the center line to pass, leaving at least 3 feet of space
Why
Minnesota lets you cross the center line, even in a no-passing zone, to pass a bicyclist when it’s safe. Leave at least 3 feet, or half your vehicle’s width if that’s more. Wait for a clear stretch with good visibility rather than squeezing by.
On a two-lane highway, a yellow sign shaped like a sideways pennant reads NO PASSING ZONE. Where is it placed, and what does it mark?
Correct answer: On the left side of the road; the start of a no-passing zone
Why
The pennant stands on the left edge of the road, right where your eyes go when you’re thinking about passing. It marks where a no-passing zone begins. The pavement often repeats the warning when the line on your half of the road turns solid yellow, so finish any pass before you get there.
On a two-lane county road you catch up to a tractor. On its back is an orange triangle with a red border. What does that emblem mean in Minnesota?
Correct answer: The vehicle travels at 30 mph or less
Why
That’s the slow-moving vehicle emblem. Minnesota requires it on farm equipment, animal-drawn vehicles and anything else that travels 30 mph or less on public roads, so you’ll close in faster than you expect. Ease off early and pass only where it’s legal and you can see well ahead.
Your side road ends at a T intersection with no signs, and you need to turn onto the through road. A pickup is coming along that road from your left. Who has the right-of-way?
Correct answer: The pickup; at a T, the driver who has to turn yields
Why
At an uncontrolled T intersection, Minnesota law has the driver who must turn yield to traffic on the through road, from either side. The left-yields-to-right rule doesn’t help you here, because your road is the one that ends. Wait for a gap you can use without making anyone brake.
What speed limit does Minnesota law set on an interstate running through open country, far from any city?
Correct answer: 70 mph
Why
Interstates outside urbanized areas of more than 50,000 people get 70 mph; inside those areas, the statutory limit is 65 mph. Other expressways and freeways are also 65 mph. Signs can set a lower limit, and snow or ice can make even that too fast.
Which of these curbside spots would break Minnesota’s parking law?
Correct answer: 40 feet from a train crossing’s closest rail
Why
Railroad crossings need the widest berth: no parking within 50 feet of the nearest rail, so 40 feet is too close. The other spots clear their minimums of 10 feet for a hydrant, 20 for an intersection crosswalk and 30 before a stop sign. Fire station driveways need 20 feet of clearance as well.
Stopped on suspicion of DWI, a Minnesota driver refuses to take a breath test. What follows?
Correct answer: The refusal is itself a crime, and a first refusal revokes the license for at least one year
Why
In Minnesota, refusing a breath test, or a blood or urine test under a search warrant, is a crime of its own. A first refusal brings at least a year of license revocation, compared with at least 90 days for a first failed test at 0.08 or more. Saying no doesn’t make the problem go away; it adds a second one.
Before a provisional license, how much supervised driving must a Minnesota teen log if no parent has taken the approved parent class?
Correct answer: 50 hours, 15 at night
Why
The standard is 50 hours behind the wheel, at least 15 of them after dark. If a parent finishes the supplemental parent class offered by a Minnesota-approved driver ed program, it drops to 40 hours, still with 15 at night. Bring the completed log to the road test.
It’s early afternoon and a light snow has started. Does Minnesota law require your headlights?
Correct answer: Yes, any time it’s raining, snowing, sleeting or hailing
Why
Minnesota requires headlights from sunset to sunrise, whenever rain, snow, sleet or hail is falling, and any time you can’t clearly see people and vehicles 500 feet ahead. Parking lights never count as a substitute. Lights on also help other drivers spot you in gray weather.
A busy street has a center lane edged on both sides by paired yellow lines, solid on the outside and broken on the inside. What is that lane for?
Correct answer: Left turns, by drivers coming from either direction
Why
That marking means a two-way left-turn lane, shared by drivers heading both ways who are about to turn left. Signal, move in shortly before your turn and wait there for a gap. The lane is only for turning left, so don’t pass in it.
The left-turn signal ahead of you shows a flashing yellow arrow. What may you do?
Correct answer: Turn left once you have yielded to oncoming traffic
Why
A flashing yellow arrow means you may turn with caution, but oncoming traffic may still be coming, and you must yield to it. A flashing red light is the one that works like a stop sign. While you wait for a gap, keep your wheels pointed straight so a rear-end bump can’t push you into oncoming lanes.
A blizzard leaves your car stuck on a rural Minnesota road. What does the Driver’s Manual recommend?
Correct answer: Stay with the car, keep the tailpipe clear and run the engine about 10 minutes an hour
Why
Staying with your vehicle keeps you sheltered from wind and cold. Running the engine about 10 minutes each hour gives you heat, while a clear tailpipe and a slightly open window keep carbon monoxide from building up inside. Check the tailpipe again whenever snow keeps falling.
On a highway with two lanes in your direction, a police car is stopped on the right shoulder with lights flashing. What does Minnesota’s move-over law tell you to do?
Correct answer: Shift to the lane farthest from it, or slow down if you can’t change lanes safely
Why
With two lanes going your way, Minnesota wants you in the lane farthest from a stopped emergency vehicle with its lights on; on wider roads, leave a full empty lane between you and it. If you can’t move over, slow down. The rule also covers tow trucks, road crews, utility and postal vehicles, and garbage and recycling trucks.
You’re on a four-lane highway split by a raised concrete median. Across that median, a school bus has halted with red lights blinking. What do you do?
Correct answer: Continue with care; traffic across a median doesn’t have to stop
Why
When a physical barrier or a raised or depressed median separates the two roadways, Minnesota doesn’t require traffic on the other roadway to stop for the bus. On an undivided road, even one with four lanes, drivers going both ways must stop. A painted line isn’t a physical divider, so it doesn’t count.
On a two-lane highway with a SPEED LIMIT 55 sign, you pull out to legally pass a slow car going your way. How fast does Minnesota let you go while you pass?
Correct answer: Up to 65 mph
Why
On two-lane highways posted 55 mph or more, Minnesota raises the limit by 10 mph while you’re lawfully passing a vehicle traveling the same direction. Back in your lane, the posted limit applies again. If a pass would need more than that extra 10, it isn’t worth starting.
Parallel parking on a two-way street, you finish with your right wheels near the curb. How much gap does Minnesota law allow at most?
Correct answer: 12 inches
Why
Minnesota sets 12 inches as the maximum gap between your right-side wheels and the curb. Then set the parking brake before you leave the car. Parking farther out squeezes the lane for passing cars and cyclists.
You’re taking home a partly finished bottle of wine from a restaurant. Where can it legally ride in your car in Minnesota?
Correct answer: In the trunk
Why
Minnesota bans opened alcohol containers anywhere in the passenger area, and the law counts the glove compartment as part of it. The trunk is the legal place. Opened cannabis packages fall under the same trunk-only rule.
During the first six months with a Minnesota provisional license, which hours are off-limits for driving unless an exception applies?
Correct answer: Midnight to 5 a.m.
Why
For the first six months, provisional drivers stay off the road from midnight to 5 a.m. The exceptions: a licensed driver 25 or older rides along, or you’re driving between home and work, between home and a school event without school transport, or for your job. After six months, the nighttime rule ends.
Driving with your high beams on a dark rural road, you see headlights coming toward you. Within what distance must you switch to low beams?
Correct answer: 1,000 feet
Why
Minnesota wants your low beams on once an oncoming vehicle is 1,000 feet away or closer, and once you’re 200 feet or less behind another car. For most vehicles, high beams reach only about 350 feet, so keep your night speed low enough to stop within what you can see.
A sign beside a city street has five sides and is colored fluorescent yellow-green. What is it telling you?
Correct answer: You’re nearing a school zone or school crossing
Why
The five-sided shape is used for school zone and school crossing signs, in yellow or fluorescent yellow-green. Minnesota school speed limits are set locally and apply while children are present, so watch for the posted number. Expect kids to appear from between parked cars.
Can you drive in Minnesota with an earbud in each ear, listening to a podcast?
Correct answer: No, earphones in both ears at once aren’t allowed
Why
Minnesota law bars drivers from wearing headphones or earphones in both ears at the same time to listen to audio. You need to hear sirens, horns and train warnings. Play it through the car’s speakers instead.
Carbon monoxide is one of the subjects Minnesota law requires on the written test. What makes this gas so dangerous?
Correct answer: You can’t see or smell it, and its first signs feel like ordinary tiredness
Why
Carbon monoxide has no color and no smell, and its early symptoms, sudden tiredness, headache, dizziness and nausea, are easy to brush off. Get fresh air at once if you notice them, and have a leaking exhaust fixed. Never warm up your car inside a closed garage.
At dusk on a wooded Minnesota highway, you pass a yellow diamond sign showing a leaping deer. Moments later, eyes shine back at you in your headlights. What should you do?
Correct answer: Slow down, sound your horn and be ready to stop, expecting more than one deer
Why
Deer are most active from dusk to dawn, and where there’s one, others are often close behind. The Minnesota Driver’s Manual says to slow down, use your horn and be prepared to stop. Keep scanning both shoulders until you’re well past the spot.
On a four-lane city street with no traffic signal, the car in the lane beside you stops at a marked crosswalk, and it blocks your view of whoever it stopped for. What does Minnesota law require of you?
Correct answer: Stop as well; you may not pass a vehicle stopped for a pedestrian
Why
A stopped car can hide someone in the crosswalk from your view, which is why Minnesota bans passing a vehicle that has stopped for a pedestrian. Where no signal is working, you must stop for anyone in a marked crosswalk, or at an intersection without one, and stay stopped until they’ve passed your lane. A second violation within a year is a gross misdemeanor.
Snow is coming down, the pavement is slick and the posted limit is 55 mph. What does Minnesota’s basic speed law expect?
Correct answer: Drive no faster than is reasonable for the conditions, even if that’s far below 55
Why
Minnesota law requires a speed that is reasonable and prudent under the conditions you’re facing, and slowing down whenever that’s needed to avoid a crash. Posted limits assume ideal conditions. On snow and ice the safe speed may be well under the sign, so leave extra room ahead too.
Which of these hill-parking setups matches the Minnesota Driver’s Manual?
Correct answer: Nose downhill against a curb, front wheels angled into the curb
Why
Facing downhill, angle the front wheels toward the curb so it catches the car if it ever rolls. Facing uphill against a curb, angle them away from it, and uphill with no curb, toward the shoulder. The parking brake goes on every time.
You’re 30, creeping along in stop-and-go traffic on I-94. Which phone use is legal in Minnesota?
Correct answer: Starting a call with a single tap on a mounted phone
Why
Minnesota’s hands-free law bans holding a phone with one or both hands while driving, and that includes sitting in traffic. Calls, voice texts, navigation and music are allowed by voice or a single touch, but video, games and reading messages are off-limits even when the phone is mounted. A first ticket costs $100 or more with court fees, a repeat $300 or more.
You’re seven months into your Minnesota provisional license and no parent or guardian is with you. How many passengers under 20, not counting immediate family, may ride along?
Correct answer: Up to three
Why
Minnesota allows one passenger under 20 in the first six months of a provisional license and up to three in months seven through twelve, unless a parent or guardian rides along. Immediate family members don’t count against either limit. Every extra teen aboard adds distraction, which is why the limit loosens only gradually.
Minnesota’s phone rule for drivers under 18 is stricter than the adult hands-free law. What does it allow while driving?
Correct answer: Only a call to 911 in an emergency
Why
Minnesota bans any cell phone use behind the wheel by permit and provisional drivers under 18, whether handheld or hands-free. The single exception is calling 911 for help in an emergency. Put the phone away before you start the car.
Traffic is backing up because the right lane closes a half mile ahead. What does the Minnesota Driver’s Manual say to do?
Correct answer: Stay in your lane until the merge point, then take turns merging
Why
This is the zipper merge: when a lane is closing and traffic is backed up, use both lanes all the way to the merge point, then alternate one car from each lane. The manual says it can cut backups by as much as 40 percent. Taking your turn at the merge point isn’t cutting in line; it’s how the system is meant to work.
A railroad crossing is marked only by a white X-shaped crossbuck, with no lights or gate. A train is plainly approaching. What does Minnesota law say about where your car comes to rest?
Correct answer: 10 feet or more from the nearest track
Why
When a train is plainly near, or when signals flash, a gate is down or a flagger signals, Minnesota law keeps you 10 feet or more back from the closest track. Go only when you can clear the far track by 10 feet without stopping. The 50-foot figure belongs to the parking law, not to stopping for trains.
What happens to a Minnesota driver caught going faster than 100 mph?
Correct answer: License revoked for at least six months
Why
Minnesota revokes the license of anyone driving faster than 100 mph for at least six months. At 20 mph or more over the limit, a surcharge equal to the fine already doubles the ticket. Speed is one of the quickest ways to lose a brand-new license.
What to know before you book your DVS exam station appointment.
Minnesota · Class D written test
80% to pass.
40 questions · Multiple choice & true/false32 of 40 answers right to pass
18 or older? Skip driver ed: hold the permit 180 days at 18, or just 90 days at 19 and up, practicing with a licensed driver 18+ beside you, then take the road test.
Study the Minnesota Driver’s Manual (June 2026 edition) from Driver and Vehicle Services. State law spells out what the test covers: signs, traffic laws, DWI, railroad crossings, school buses, bicycles and carbon monoxide. Start with these six areas.
Commit these six to memory; each one comes from Minnesota law or the Driver’s Manual.
These 40 questions are just the warm-up. The app gives you 499 Minnesota practice questions, 36 short lessons and the why behind every answer.
The Class D written test has 40 questions, a mix of multiple choice and true-or-false, on Minnesota traffic laws and road signs. You need 80% to pass, so 32 correct answers. It’s given on paper or on a computer by Driver and Vehicle Services (DVS), the Department of Public Safety division that serves as Minnesota’s DMV.
You can try again, but only one written test per day. At a DVS exam station your first two attempts are free, as long as you haven’t already tested with a third-party proctor; after two fails in a row, each retest costs $10. There’s no time limit at the exam station, so take each question slowly.
Not from home. You can take a computer-based test at a DVS-approved third-party site, such as a driver education program, with a proctor present in person; it may charge up to $10 and allows no interpreters or other help. Otherwise, book an appointment for the test at a DVS exam station.
Yes. DVS gives the written test in Spanish, as well as Somali, Hmong, Russian, Vietnamese, Karen and American Sign Language, with audio at most locations. There’s a Spanish edition of the manual, the Manual del (de la) conductor(a) de Minnesota, and since October 2023 the Driver’s License for All law lets you get a standard license regardless of immigration status. This practice test and the app come in Spanish too.
15, after 30 hours of classroom driver ed and enrollment in behind-the-wheel training. Hold the permit six months and log 50 supervised hours, 15 at night, before a provisional license at 16. For the first six months, no driving midnight to 5 a.m. (with a few exceptions) and only one passenger under 20 without a parent; until 18, no phone use at all, hands-free included, except to call 911.
$29.50, and the permit is good for two years; renewing it costs $24.50. The written test itself is free for your first two tries at a DVS exam station. When you move up, a provisional license is $32.50 and a regular Class D license $46.
Bring your own safe vehicle with current proof of insurance and a licensed driver to go with you. Teens also bring the completed supervised driving log and the White Card showing driver ed is done. Expect to parallel park (parking-assist must stay off), park on a hill and back into a space in a 90-degree maneuver. The first two road tests are free; after that each costs $20, and a no-show costs $40.
Work through the Minnesota Driver’s Manual (June 2026) chapter by chapter, with extra care on signs, traffic laws and impaired driving. Then test yourself: the 40 questions above are a start, and the app adds 499 Minnesota questions and 36 short lessons that explain every answer. Aim for 80% or better every time before you book your test.