Turning on red — Montana Permit Test

Turning on red on the Montana permit test — 2 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

At a traffic light, unless a sign says you cannot, you may turn right on red after you have stopped in the proper lane and made sure it is safe.

Rolling through a red without stopping gives you no time to see a walker or a car coming from the left.

At intersections controlled by a light, unless there is a sign that says you cannot turn right, you may turn right AFTER YOU HAVE STOPPED (if vehicle is in the proper lane) and you have determined it is safe to do so.

Montana Driver Manual, p.40

Montana law also allows a left turn on red from a one-way street onto a one-way street, after stopping and making sure it is safe.

Turning left on red onto a two-way street would cross oncoming cars that have the green.

Montana law also permits turning left from a one-way street to a one-way street under the condition stated above for turning right on red.

Montana Driver Manual, p.40

On the test

At a red light with no sign against it, what must you do before turning right?

Stop and make sure it is safe. Rolling through a red without stopping gives you no time to see a walker or a car coming from the left. Montana Driver Manual, p.40: “At intersections controlled by a light, unless there is a sign that says you cannot turn right, you may turn right AFTER YOU HAVE STOPPED (if vehicle is in the proper lane) and you have determined it is safe to do so.”

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 Montana Driver Manual, published by the Montana Department of Justice, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-10-04.