Minnesota road tests are administered by the Driver and Vehicle Services (DVS). You need 50 supervised hours before testing — 15 of those must be at night. Minnesota’s 15-hour night requirement is tied for the highest in the country.

What the test covers

Minnesota road tests run on public streets near the DVS location. Tests last 15-20 minutes.

Skills tested:

Intersection navigation
Left and right turns
Stopping at signs and signals
Lane changes
Parallel parking
Backing
Speed management
Following distance
Mirror and observation habits

Minnesota tests parallel parking.

What gets people failed

Not stopping fully at stop signs. Complete stop, wheels stopped, before you move. Rolling through is the most common failure in Minnesota.

Parallel parking. Hitting cones, mounting the curb, or ending up far from the curb are the typical failure points.

Blind spot checks on lane changes. Signal, check mirror, turn head to check blind spot, then move. Examiners watch for the head turn. Missing it is a deduction.

Right-of-way errors. Minnesota has a lot of four-way stops. The rules for who goes first are tested. First to arrive goes first; when simultaneous, yield to the right.

Speed. Minnesota residential streets are typically 30 mph. Stay at or below the posted limit throughout the test.

Getting the 15 night hours

Minnesota’s 15-hour night requirement is the most challenging part of the permit period. The good news: Minnesota winters are long and dark. Sunset in Minneapolis in December is around 4:35 PM. Evening drives starting at 5 PM count as night for five months of the year.

Start night driving early in the permit period. Don’t leave 10 hours for the last month. Three 30-minute drives per week during winter months gets you 6 hours per month. By February, you can have the 15 hours done through normal evening routines.

Before the test

Minnesota requires 50 hours and 15 night hours. The permit hold is 6 months.

Bring:

Valid Minnesota learner’s permit
Driving log showing 50 hours (15 night)
Vehicle registration and current insurance
Parent or guardian if under 18

Tracking your hours

Minnesota’s sunset-to-sunrise night definition changes daily. Tracking this correctly manually means looking up sunset for your specific location before each session.

Moda handles this automatically. Every session is tagged correctly. Download on the App Store

Full Minnesota permit requirements: Minnesota permit hours

Stop manually tracking hours. Moda logs driving automatically.

Auto-detects night driving, exports DMV forms, and syncs across family phones.