How to make a turn — Minnesota Permit Test

How to make a turn on the Minnesota permit test — 7 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

For a left turn, move into the lane closest to the center line after checking traffic behind you and signaling.

Turning left from anywhere else drags your car across a lane where somebody is going straight.

Left turn: After checking traffic behind you and signaling your intent, move into the lane closest to the center line.

Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.29

Where no lines mark the lanes, move your vehicle to the right of the center of the road before turning left.

Without paint you still owe the oncoming driver half the road, so you take your half from the middle.

If there are no lines marking the lanes, move your vehicle to the right of the center of the road.

Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.29

Complete a left turn in the first lane to the right of the center line.

Cutting into a far lane crosses in front of cars that are already moving in it.

complete the turn in the first lane right of the center line

Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.29

For a right turn, move close to the right curb and complete the turn in the lane next to the curb.

Swinging wide puts the back of your car through the lane beside you and the front through the crosswalk.

Right turn: After checking traffic behind you and signaling your intent, move close to the right curb.

Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.29

Look right and left before starting a turn and yield the right of way if necessary.

The turn takes you across whatever is coming, and a mirror does not show either side.

Look right and left before starting the turn. Yield right of way, if necessary.

Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.29

Turn the steering wheel hand-over-hand through the turn.

Hand-over-hand keeps both hands on the wheel, so the car is under control if a tire hits something.

Turn the steering wheel hand-over-hand

Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.29

Where signs or markings set out two or more turning lanes, stay in your own lane through the turn.

Two cars turning side by side only works while both hold their line.

Multiple turn lanes: If there are signs or lane markings for two or more turning lanes, stay in your lane during the turn.

Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.30

On the test

Which lane do you turn left from?

The lane closest to the center line. Turning left from anywhere else drags your car across a lane where somebody is going straight. Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.29: “Left turn: After checking traffic behind you and signaling your intent, move into the lane closest to the center line.”

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

  • One payment, once — not a subscription. Nothing renews and there is nothing to cancel, for an exam you sit one time.
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  • Paying opens the rest of the cards, unlimited full-length practice tests, and retests built from exactly the questions you got wrong.
  • Every level up to Prepared — 3 tests passed in a row.
  • Do the work, fail the real exam, and we refund you.

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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.