Minnesota Road Signs Cheat Sheet.
The night-before summary, built like the exam.

The numbers to remember

• 80% — the score you need to pass the written test. There's no separate cutoff for signs versus laws; it's one overall score.
• One attempt per day — you may take only one written test per day, so don't walk in half-prepared hoping to "just try it."
• One combined pool — road signs and Minnesota traffic laws are tested together in the same set of questions, not scored as separate sections.
• Two question types — multiple-choice and true-or-false, mixed throughout.

Sign shapes at a glance

• Red octagon = STOP, always — the only sign with eight sides.
• Red/white downward triangle = YIELD.
• Yellow diamond = general warning ahead (curves, crossings, hazards).
• Pentagon = school zone/crossing.
• Round = railroad crossing.
• White rectangle, black text = regulatory (speed limits, one-way, parking rules).
• Green = guide/directional signs — distances, exits, routes.
• Orange = construction/maintenance zone, always temporary.
• Blue = motorist services (gas, food, lodging).

Right-of-way in one breath

• No signs at all: first vehicle to arrive goes first; a tie goes to the driver on the right.
• T-intersection: the road that ends yields to the through road.
• Roundabout: yield to traffic already circulating inside.
• Always yield to pedestrians in crosswalks and to emergency vehicles running lights/sirens — pull right and stop.
• Merging traffic yields to the lane it's entering; the vehicle already there has priority.

Top traps

• Reading the posted limit as the required speed. It's a maximum, not a target — in rain, fog, ice, or heavy traffic, the legal speed is whatever is actually safe, even if that's well below the sign.
• Absolute words in true-or-false questions. Watch for "always" and "never" — a single exception makes the whole statement false.
• Confusing yield with stop. Yield means slow down and give way if needed; it does not always require a full stop the way an octagon does.
• Assuming implied consent is optional. By driving on public roads you generally agree in advance to chemical testing if lawfully arrested for suspected impaired driving, and refusing it carries its own separate penalty.
• Studying signs and laws in isolation. The real test interleaves them freely, so practicing them as one mixed subject — the way you'll actually be tested — beats studying them as two separate lists.
• Underestimating fatigue. Drowsy driving produces slowed reaction time and poor judgment much like alcohol does, and the test treats it as a related safety concept, not an afterthought.