Point schedule — South Dakota Permit Test

Point schedule on the South Dakota permit test — 10 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

A conviction for driving while intoxicated (DWI/DUI) carries 10 points.

A drunk driver cannot judge speed or react in time, and that is how families are killed on the road.

Driving While Intoxicated (DWI/DUI) 10*

South Dakota Driver License Manual, p.14

State law requires mandatory revocation of the driver license for a DWI conviction.

A driver who drank and drove once is likely to do it again, so the license is taken right away.

*State law requires a mandatory revocation of driver license for Driving While Intoxicated convictions.

South Dakota Driver License Manual, p.14

A reckless driving conviction carries 8 points.

Reckless drivers weave and race through traffic, and other drivers have no time to get out of the way.

Reckless Driving 8

South Dakota Driver License Manual, p.14

Eluding or attempting to elude carries 6 points.

A driver fleeing police drives fast and blind, and bystanders are the ones who get hit.

Eluding/Attempting to Elude 6

South Dakota Driver License Manual, p.14

Drag racing carries 6 points.

Racing cars cannot stop for a car turning in front of them, and the crash happens at full speed.

Drag Racing 6

South Dakota Driver License Manual, p.14

Failure to yield the right-of-way carries 4 points.

Pulling out in front of a car that had the right to go is a common cause of side crashes.

Failure to Yield Right-of-Way 4

South Dakota Driver License Manual, p.14

Improper passing carries 4 points.

A bad pass puts a car head-on with oncoming traffic, the deadliest crash on a two-lane road.

Improper Passing 4

South Dakota Driver License Manual, p.14

Driving on the wrong side of the roadway carries 4 points.

A car on the wrong side meets oncoming traffic face to face with almost no time to swerve.

Driving on the Wrong Side of the Roadway 4

South Dakota Driver License Manual, p.14

A stop sign or stop light violation carries 3 points.

Rolling through a stop puts your car in the path of cross traffic that expects you to wait.

Stop Sign/Light Violation 3

South Dakota Driver License Manual, p.14

Any other moving violation carries 2 points.

Small moving tickets add up, and a driver who ignores them can reach a suspension without noticing.

Other Moving Violation 2

South Dakota Driver License Manual, p.14

On the test

How many points does a DWI conviction carry?

10 points. A drunk driver cannot judge speed or react in time, and that is how families are killed on the road. South Dakota Driver License Manual, p.14: “Driving While Intoxicated (DWI/DUI) 10*”

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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  • Paying opens the rest of the cards, unlimited full-length practice tests, and retests built from exactly the questions you got wrong.
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  • Do the work, fail the real exam, and we refund you.

All South Dakota permit topics

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.