Opening doors and highway parking — Minnesota Permit Test

Opening doors and highway parking on the Minnesota permit test — 6 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

Do not open a door on a parked vehicle until you have checked that it is safe and will not interfere with traffic.

A door opened into a cyclist’s path is a crash they have no time to avoid.

do not open any doors until you have checked to make sure it is safe and will not interfere with other traffic

Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.35

Do not leave a door on the traffic side open longer than it takes to load or unload passengers.

An open door is an obstacle sticking into a lane, and it is invisible edge-on at night.

Do not leave any door on the side closest to moving traffic open longer than necessary to load or unload passengers.

Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.35

Parking on a state highway or freeway means moving your vehicle away from the main part of the road.

Traffic on a highway arrives fast and close. A car left in the lane is a wall in the dark.

If you are parking on state highways or freeways, you must move your vehicle away from the main part of the road.

Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.37

A vehicle that cannot be moved must be marked with visible markers or signals.

The markers are what turn an invisible obstacle into something drivers see in time.

If your vehicle cannot be moved, use visible markers or signals to prevent damage and harm to other drivers.

Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.37

A vehicle parked on the highway at night must show at least one white or amber front light and one red taillight visible from 500 feet.

The lights say where the car starts and ends, which is what a driver needs to steer around it.

You must have at least one white or amber front light and one red taillight illuminated on your vehicle. Both lights must be visible from at least 500 feet.

Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.37

Headlights on a parked vehicle should be set to low beam.

High beams aimed down a highway blind every driver coming toward a car they need to avoid.

Set headlights on parked vehicles to low beam.

Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.37

On the test

What must you check before opening a door into the road?

That it is safe and will not interfere with traffic. A door opened into a cyclist’s path is a crash they have no time to avoid. Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.35: “do not open any doors until you have checked to make sure it is safe and will not interfere with other traffic”

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.