Airbag safety — Minnesota Permit Test

Airbag safety on the Minnesota permit test — 5 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

An airbag is a supplemental restraint system that works with the seat belt.

Supplemental means it is the second layer. The belt is the first, and the bag assumes it is fastened.

An airbag is a supplemental restraint system.

Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.39

Keep at least 10 inches between yourself and the steering wheel.

The bag comes out of the wheel faster than you can blink, and it needs room to inflate before it reaches you.

Try to keep at least 10 inches between yourself and the steering wheel.

Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.39

Keep your hands at the 8 and 4 o’clock or 9 and 3 o’clock positions and avoid 10 and 2.

At 10 and 2 your forearms are directly over the airbag, and it throws them into your face.

Keep your hands at the 8 and 4 o’clock or 9 and 3 o’clock positions on the steering wheel. Avoid the 10 and 2 o’clock position.

Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.39

Move front passenger seats as far back as possible.

Distance is the only protection a passenger has from the bag in the dashboard in front of them.

Move front passenger seats as far back as possible.

Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.39

Keep the dashboard free of clutter, because objects become dangerous if the airbags inflate.

Anything on the dash is thrown at the occupants by the bag coming out underneath it.

Keep the dashboard free of clutter; objects can become dangerous if airbags inflate.

Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.23

On the test

What kind of system is an airbag?

A supplemental restraint system. Supplemental means it is the second layer. The belt is the first, and the bag assumes it is fastened. Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.39: “An airbag is a supplemental restraint system.”

How this works

Most practice tests hand you a bank of questions and leave the manual somewhere else. This one puts them together.

You read one law and the reason behind it, then answer a question on that law while it is still fresh. Get it right and you move on; get it wrong and you have found the gap while it is cheap to fix, not on the morning of the exam.

Learning one rule at a time, and proving it immediately, is what turns a manual you skimmed into something you actually know — and it makes studying feel like getting somewhere rather than like waiting to find out.

What it costs

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Where these come from

Every rule here is checked against Minnesota Driver’s Manual, published by the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-22.