Drunk driving penalties — South Dakota Permit Test

Drunk driving penalties on the South Dakota permit test — 5 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

With a BAC of 0.08% or more, your driver license or driving privileges may be revoked for a minimum of 30 days, and you may face criminal penalties.

Losing the license for a month means no way to get to work, school or practice.

If you have a BAC of 0.08% or more, your driver’s license and/or driving privileges may be revoked for a minimum of 30 days, and you may be subject to criminal penalties.

South Dakota Driver License Manual, p.20

A first alcohol conviction may bring a fine of $300 to $1,000 plus court costs.

A single drunk drive can wipe out months of savings before any crash is even counted.

If you are found guilty of an alcohol violation and it is your first conviction, you may be fined from $300 to $1,000 plus court costs.

South Dakota Driver License Manual, p.20

A first DWI offense (0.08% BAC or more) is a Class 1 misdemeanor punished by a fine, imprisonment up to one year, or both.

A first drunk-driving arrest is already a crime that can put you in jail for a year.

First offense is a Class 1 misdemeanor which is punishable by a fine, imprisonment up to one year, or both.

South Dakota Driver License Manual, p.20

A second DWI offense brings loss of driver license for a minimum of 1 year, and driving without a license during that time means at least three days in county jail that cannot be suspended.

Drivers who keep driving after losing the license are the same ones who crashed before.

Second offense is a Class 1 misdemeanor which is punishable by a fine, imprisonment up to one year, or both, and loss of driver license for a minimum of one year.

South Dakota Driver License Manual, p.20

A third DWI offense is a Class 6 felony punished by a fine, imprisonment up to two years and loss of license for no less than one year after release.

By the third arrest the driver has shown they will drive drunk again, so the law treats it as a felony.

Third offense is a Class 6 felony which is punishable by a fine, imprisonment up to two years, and loss of driver license for no less than one year (after release from incarceration).

South Dakota Driver License Manual, p.21

On the test

With a BAC of 0.08% or more, for at least how long may your license be revoked?

30 days. Losing the license for a month means no way to get to work, school or practice. South Dakota Driver License Manual, p.20: “If you have a BAC of 0.08% or more, your driver’s license and/or driving privileges may be revoked for a minimum of 30 days, and you may be subject to criminal penalties.”

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.

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Where these come from

Every rule here is checked against South Dakota Driver License Manual, published by the South Dakota Department of Public Safety, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-10-04.