Emotions — South Dakota Permit Test

Emotions on the South Dakota permit test — 4 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

Emotions can interfere with your ability to think and process information; you may not drive well if overly worried, excited, afraid, angry or depressed.

An angry driver stops watching the road and starts chasing the car that cut them off.

They can increase the risk by interfering with your ability to think, creating a lack of attention and interrupting your ability to process information.
South Dakota Driver License Manual, p.22

If angry or excited, give yourself time to cool off; take a short walk if needed, but stay off the road until you have calmed down.

Driving off in a rage turns the car into a way to vent, and someone in the way gets hurt.

If angry or excited, give yourself time to cool off.
South Dakota Driver License Manual, p.22

If you are impatient, allow extra time for the trip and leave a few minutes early, so you will not tend to speed.

Running late pushes you to speed and squeeze through yellow lights you should stop for.

If you are impatient (road rage), allow extra time for the driving trip.
South Dakota Driver License Manual, p.22

If you are worried, down or upset, try to keep your mind on your driving; some people find listening to the radio helps, and you can always have somebody else drive.

A mind stuck on bad news drifts off the road and misses the car pulling out.

Some people find listening to the radio helps.
South Dakota Driver License Manual, p.22

On the test

According to the manual, how can strong emotions affect driving?

They interfere with thinking and attention. An angry driver stops watching the road and starts chasing the car that cut them off. South Dakota Driver License Manual, p.22: “They can increase the risk by interfering with your ability to think, creating a lack of attention and interrupting your ability to process information.”

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 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.