Minnesota Car / Permit Practice Test
40 questions · pass with 32 correct. You get instant feedback and an explanation after every answer.
Minnesota Car / Permit questions with answers
20 sample questions from the Minnesota Car / Permit question bank — each with the correct answer, a short explanation, and the section of the official handbook it comes from.
1. When traffic is stopped and a lane is closed ahead, the zipper merge asks drivers to do what?
Correct answer: Use both lanes until the merge point, then take turns
The zipper merge keeps both lanes full until the merge point, where drivers alternate, shortening backups and improving safety.
Source: Chapter 4 - Late merge (zipper merge)
2. One factor that affects your total stopping distance is what?
Correct answer: The time to perceive danger and the condition of your tires and brakes
Stopping distance depends on how quickly you see and react to danger, about three-quarters of a second to react, plus weather, tire tread, and brake condition.
Source: Chapter 6 - Stopping distance
3. The seat belt requirement in Minnesota applies to whom?
Correct answer: The driver and every passenger, including those in back
Everyone in the vehicle, front and back, must wear a properly fastened seat belt, and police can stop a car for a belt violation alone.
Source: Chapter 3 - Seat belt laws
4. What message does a diamond-shaped yellow sign with black symbols give a driver?
Correct answer: A possible hazard or changing condition is coming up on the road ahead
Yellow diamond signs are warnings; they alert you that something ahead, such as a curve or a merge, may require you to slow down or adjust.
Source: Chapter 5 - Warning signs
5. A limited license issued during a suspension or revocation typically restricts you to what?
Correct answer: Travel for work, treatment, school, or dependents' needs
A limited license permits driving only for specific purposes such as getting to work, treatment or counseling, school, or transporting dependents.
Source: Chapter 7 - Limited license
6. When you see a school safety patrol member helping students cross, you must do what?
Correct answer: Come to a complete stop
You are required to stop completely for a student safety patrol or an adult crossing guard holding a stop sign or flag.
Source: Chapter 4 - School safety patrol
7. Your car makes contact with a downed power line or utility pole. What should you do?
Correct answer: Stay inside and call 911, assuming the wires are live
Remain in the vehicle and call for help; only leave if it catches fire, and then jump clear with feet together and shuffle away.
Source: Chapter 6 - Vehicle crash with a utility pole or power box
8. White dashed lines on the roadway mean what?
Correct answer: You may change lanes when it is safe
White dashed lines separate lanes traveling the same direction and permit lane changes where they appear.
Source: Chapter 5 - White lines
9. Stopping or parking on an interstate freeway is allowed only when?
Correct answer: There is a genuine emergency
You may stop on a freeway only for a real emergency; running out of gas does not count and can bring a citation.
Source: Chapter 6 - Stopping, parking and backing up
10. Which statement about drugs and driving is correct according to the manual?
Correct answer: Prescription and over-the-counter drugs can also impair driving
Prescription medicines, over-the-counter products, and even household substances can cause drowsiness and impair driving, especially when mixed with alcohol.
Source: Chapter 8 - Drugs and driving
11. When making a left turn, where should you complete the turn?
Correct answer: In the first lane just to the right of the center line
After moving into the lane nearest the center line, you finish a left turn in the first lane to the right of the center line of the road you enter.
Source: Chapter 3 - Left turns
12. In a highway work zone, exceeding the posted speed carries what added penalty?
Correct answer: A $300 fine on top of the regular speeding ticket
Speeding in a work zone adds a $300 fine to the normal speeding penalty because workers are close to traffic.
Source: Chapter 4 - Highway work zones
13. If you must reduce speed for a stopped emergency vehicle and fail to do so, what is added to your fine?
Correct answer: A surcharge of at least $25
Failing to slow for a stopped emergency vehicle with flashing lights adds a surcharge of at least $25 to the speeding fine.
Source: Chapter 3 - Reduced speed
14. Nearly what share of Minnesota's fatal crashes happen after dark?
Correct answer: Close to half
Even with lighter traffic, roughly half of the state's deadly crashes occur at night, so extra care is needed after dark.
Source: Chapter 6 - Night driving
15. White regulatory signs, such as speed limit signs, serve what purpose?
Correct answer: They tell you the traffic laws you must follow
White is the background for regulatory signs that state the rules, like maximum speed, you are required to obey.
Source: Chapter 5 - Regulatory signs
16. During the first six months with a provisional license, nighttime driving is restricted between which hours?
Correct answer: Midnight and 5 a.m., with certain exceptions
For the first six months a provisional driver may not drive from midnight to 5 a.m. unless accompanied by a licensed driver 25 or older, or driving to work or school events.
Source: Chapter 1 - Your provisional license
17. Before you pull out of a private driveway onto a public road, you must do what?
Correct answer: Stop and yield to pedestrians and traffic
Entering a road from a driveway, alley, or parking lot requires you to stop and give way to pedestrians and approaching vehicles.
Source: Chapter 4 - Right of way and yielding
18. Your vehicle stalls on railroad tracks and a train is coming. What should you do?
Correct answer: Get out and walk toward the train at a 45-degree angle
Leave the vehicle immediately and walk away from the tracks at a 45-degree angle toward the oncoming train to avoid flying debris.
Source: Chapter 6 - Stalling on railroad tracks
19. A flashing yellow arrow for a left turn tells you what?
Correct answer: You may turn left after yielding to oncoming traffic
A flashing yellow arrow allows a left turn but you must give way to oncoming vehicles and pedestrians that are close enough to be a hazard.
Source: Chapter 5 - Traffic-control signals
20. Your car faces uphill with a curb present. How should you turn the front wheels?
Correct answer: Away from the curb
Facing uphill with a curb, turn the wheels away from the curb so the tires will catch the curb if the car rolls back.
Source: Chapter 3 - Parking on a hill