Starting the engine — South Dakota Permit Test
Starting the engine on the South Dakota permit test — 3 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
Before starting the engine, put your right foot on the brake pedal and check that the gear selector lever is in park.
A car started in gear can lurch forward into a wall, a parked car, or a child walking past.
To start the engine, place your right foot on the brake pedal and check the gear selector lever for park.
The parking brake should be on before you start the vehicle.
Without the brake set, a car parked on a slope can roll away the moment the engine catches.
Make sure the parking brake is on before you start the vehicle.
In a manual-transmission vehicle, the car must not be in gear when you start it, and in some vehicles the clutch must be pressed down.
Starting a stick-shift car in gear makes it jump forward the instant the engine turns over.
If the vehicle has a manual transmission, it must not be in gear and in some vehicles the clutch must be depressed.
On the test
What should you do just before you turn the key to start the engine?
Put your right foot on the brake and check for park. A car started in gear can lurch forward into a wall, a parked car, or a child walking past. South Dakota Driver License Manual, p.29: “To start the engine, place your right foot on the brake pedal and check the gear selector lever for park.”
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.
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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.
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/SD.pdf (South Dakota Driver License Manual, Revised 11/2024, South Dakota Department of Public Safety, retrieved 2026-09-14 and re-checked 2026-10-04; sha256 pinned in SOURCES.json)
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/SD.pages.txt (pdftotext -layout, the fixture every citation here was cut from and verified against; sha256 pinned in SOURCES.json)
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/SD-exam.html (South Dakota Department of Public Safety, South Dakota Driver License Testing Information, KB0043731, read 2026-10-04; states the 80% rate; sha256 pinned under examSource)
- https://www.sd.gov/dps?id=cs_kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0043733 (read 2026-10-04; links the manual)