Minnesota DMV Cheat Sheet
A condensed study guide for the Minnesota DVS written knowledge test — test logistics, plus the Minnesota-specific rules most likely to differ from what you already know. This isn't a substitute for the official Minnesota driver's manual, or for practicing the real questions. Looking for the core rules and signs that apply everywhere, not just Minnesota? Check the general driving theory cheat sheet instead.
40Questions
80%To Pass
$11.25 instruction permitFee
- Test length varies: Minnesota's Class D written knowledge test draws 40 questions from a larger question bank, and you need 80 percent (32 correct) to pass. This site's own Minnesota practice test and mock exam are also sized at 40 questions to match.
- Fee: Under Minnesota Statute 171.06, an instruction permit costs $11.25, a provisional license costs $14.25, and a standard Class D license costs $27.75 -- each figure includes the statute's $2.25 technology surcharge. The manual itself doesn't reprint this fee table; it directs applicants to the DVS fee page instead.
- Documents required:
- Proof of identity and date of birth (or, since the Driver's License for All law took effect Oct. 1, 2023, documentation that doesn't require proof of legal U.S. presence for a standard card)
- Your Social Security number, if you have one
- A certificate of enrollment ("Blue Card" or "Pink Card") from an approved driver education course, if you're under 18
- A parent, court-appointed guardian, county-appointed foster parent, or transitional-living-program director to sign and approve the application, if you're under 18
- Money to pay the applicable fee
- If you don't pass: Only one written test may be taken per day, and there's no published waiting period between attempts beyond that. After two consecutive written-test failures, a $10 fee applies to the third and every subsequent test. After two consecutive road-test failures, a $20 retest fee applies to each further attempt; after a fourth road-test failure, at least six hours of behind-the-wheel instruction with a licensed instructor is required before testing again.
- Online testing: DVS's online pre-application at dps.mn.gov/mydvs, started no more than 30 days before your appointment, lets you complete most of the paperwork before your office visit -- but the written test, vision screening, and road test itself must be completed in person at a DVS exam station, so there's no fully remote path to a first-time Minnesota license or permit.
Minnesota-Specific Rules
Minor & Provisional Licensing
- An instruction permit requires 30 hours of classroom instruction plus enrollment in behind-the-wheel training, or enrollment in a concurrent course with the first 15 classroom hours done (waived entirely at 18+).
- Hold the permit at least six months before the road test if you're 18 or younger, or three months if you're 19 or older.
- A supervising driver must be at least 21 years old for a permit holder under 18, or at least 18 once the permit holder turns 18.
- A provisional license needs a supervised driving log showing 40 hours (15 at night) if a parent completes the parent class, or 50 hours (15 at night) without it.
- First six months of a provisional license: no driving midnight-5 a.m. except with a driver at least 25 years old, or to/from work, a school event, or employment.
- Provisional passenger cap: one non-family passenger under 20 for the first six months, rising to three for the second six months.
- Permit and provisional holders under 18 can't use a cell phone at all while driving -- handheld or hands-free -- except to call 911.
- Vanessa's Law: an unlicensed teen convicted of a crash-related or alcohol-related violation can't get any license until turning 18.
- An under-21 Class D license requires being 18+, or 12 violation-free consecutive months on a provisional license; it expires on the 21st birthday, then renews every four years.
- Three age-15 exceptions to the usual GDL minimums: a restricted farm work license, a special medical license (marked MEDLIM), and a motorized bicycle (moped) permit.
Licensing Procedure & Documents
- The written test needs 80 percent to pass, one attempt per day; a $10 fee kicks in for the third and later tries after two straight fails.
- Vision screening minimums: 20/40 corrected vision, 105 degrees of peripheral vision.
- The road test includes a 90-degree backing maneuver; four failures require six hours of behind-the-wheel instruction before retesting.
- The Driver's License for All law (Oct. 1, 2023) dropped the proof-of-legal-presence requirement for a standard license, permit, or ID.
- REAL ID needs proof of identity/DOB/legal presence, an SSN, and two Minnesota residency documents -- more than a standard license.
- New residents have 60 days to get a Minnesota license or permit (30 days for commercial drivers).
- A driver's license typically expires on your birthday and renews every four years once you turn 21.
- Fast track service adds $20 for processing within three business days and UPS delivery within 10 business days -- not available for first-time applicants, enhanced licenses, or upgrades.
Speed, Right-of-Way & Legal Rules
- Default speed limits without posted signs: 10 mph in alleys, 30 mph on urban/town roads, 55 mph everywhere else.
- On a two-lane highway posted at 55 mph or higher, you can go 10 mph over the posted limit while lawfully passing.
- Driving over 100 mph revokes your license for at least six months.
- At an uncontrolled T intersection, the driver on the terminating road must yield to all cross traffic.
- A J-turn crosses a divided highway by turning right first, then completing a U-turn from a designated median left-turn lane.
- U-turns are banned entirely on interstate freeways, and near hills/curves without 1,000 feet of visibility.
- The Move Over Law also covers tow trucks and utility, construction, postal, and waste/recycling vehicles with warning lights on, not just emergency vehicles.
- Only official emergency-business vehicles may follow within 500 feet of a working firefighting vehicle.
- A second-or-later texting/messaging-while-driving conviction adds a $275 fine on top of the court's own fine.
- The "zipper merge": stay in your lane until the actual merge point, then take turns -- credited with cutting backup length by up to 40 percent.
Sharing the Road
- Stop at least 20 feet from a school bus with flashing red lights; a conviction carries a minimum $500 fine and loss of driving privileges.
- Motorcycles may legally lane-split in moving traffic (up to 25 mph, no more than 15 mph over traffic speed) and lane-filter in stopped traffic (up to 15 mph over traffic speed).
- Give a bicyclist at least 3 feet of clearance when passing -- you may cross the center line to do it, even in a no-passing zone.
- A neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV) may only be driven on streets posted at 35 mph or less, and never during a road test.
- At an activated railroad crossing, stop at least 10 feet from the nearest rail and don't proceed until clear 10 feet past it; passing within 100 feet of any crossing is illegal.
- Passenger vans, buses, and larger trucks must stop at every railroad crossing, train or no train -- don't pass them there.
- Towing a camper or trailer requires at least 500 feet of following distance from other vehicles, far more than the standard three-second rule.
DUI Laws & Penalties
- Zero tolerance under 21: any detectable alcohol means a 30 day suspension (first conviction) or 180 days (second).
- DWI threshold is 0.08 percent for a standard vehicle, 0.04 percent for a commercial vehicle -- and arrest is possible at 0.04 percent in a standard vehicle if alcohol caused driving errors.
- Implied consent: refusing a chemical test is a crime, costing one to six years of revocation depending on prior offenses; also applies to off-road vehicles and motorboats.
- First DWI offense: minimum 90-day revocation (30 days if the driver pleads guilty) and a $680 reinstatement fee.
- Penalties escalate for a prior DWI, a BAC of 0.16 percent or above, a child under 16 in the vehicle, being under 21, or refusing the pre-arrest breath test.
- Felony DWI applies to a fourth offense in 10 years, a prior felony DWI, or a prior impaired criminal vehicular homicide -- up to seven years in prison and a $14,000 fine.
- Opened cannabis products must stay in the trunk (or an unoccupied area if there's no trunk) while the vehicle is on a street or highway.
Rules and fees change — always confirm current details with Minnesota DVS before your exam. Cheat sheet v1.0, last checked 2026-08-01.