Sharing the road with bicyclists — Minnesota Permit Test

Sharing the road with bicyclists on the Minnesota permit test — 6 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

Bicycles are legal vehicles on Minnesota roads with the same rights and responsibilities as other vehicles.

A bicycle is traffic, not an obstacle in it, and the rules that apply to you apply to the rider.

Bicycles are legal vehicles on Minnesota roads and share the same rights and responsibilities as other vehicles.

Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.47

When you pass a bicyclist you must leave at least 3 feet between your car and the bike.

Three feet is the room a rider needs to swerve around a pothole without being under your mirror.

You must keep at least 3 feet between the side of your car and the bicyclist.

Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.48

You may cross the center of the roadway to pass a bicyclist, even in a no passing zone, when it is safe.

Giving the rider three feet often means using the other side of the road, so the law allows it.

You are allowed to cross the center of the roadway to pass a bicyclist, even in a no passing zone, when it is safe to do so.

Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.48

Before passing, make sure the bicyclist is not signaling or making a left turn.

A rider moving to the middle of the lane is turning, and passing them puts you exactly where they are going.

Make sure the bicyclist is not signaling or making a left turn before passing.

Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.48

It is illegal to drive in a bicycle lane except to park where allowed, to enter or leave the road, or to prepare for a turn.

The lane exists to keep bikes out of traffic, and a car in it sends them back into traffic.

It is illegal to drive in bicycle lanes except to park (when permitted), to enter or leave the road, or to prepare for a turn.

Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.48

Before crossing a bicycle lane you must yield to approaching bicyclists, then signal and move into the lane to turn.

Turning across the lane at the last second cuts off a rider going faster than they look.

Before crossing a bicycle lane, make sure it is safe. You must yield to approaching bicyclists.

Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.48

On the test

What status does a bicycle have on a Minnesota road?

A legal vehicle with the same rights and duties. A bicycle is traffic, not an obstacle in it, and the rules that apply to you apply to the rider. Minnesota Driver’s Manual, p.47: “Bicycles are legal vehicles on Minnesota roads and share the same rights and responsibilities as other vehicles.”

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.
  • Free to start: a 10-question test and the first section of cards. No sign-up and no account.
  • 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.

All Minnesota permit topics

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.