Minnesota Driving Practice: School Lessons and the Home Log

During lessons: what counts toward the six hours

Rule 7411.0555 sets the floor for in-car teaching in a Class D program. A student younger than 18 receives six hours or more, never above two in one day, and no fewer than four of the six happen on public streets.

Simulator time converts at four to one and can cover no more than two of the required hours. Time on an off-road range converts at two to one. A program that uses both, with eight or more simulator hours and two or more range hours, may cut street time to three hours. Riding in the back while a classmate drives earns nothing.

• Floor: 6 hours of instruction
• Per day: no more than 2 hours under 18
• Real streets: 4 hours, or 3 when simulator and range are both used
• Watching a classmate: zero credit

During lessons: the blue card and the white card

Two pieces of paper mark progress. The blue card, an enrollment certificate, is issued when classroom work is finished and a third or more of the in-car fee is paid; DVS has to have it before the knowledge test. The white card, a completion certificate, must reach you no later than 15 days after the final lesson, and the road test examiner will ask for it.

Rule 7411.0335 allows a school to keep the completion certificate until the agreed fees are settled, so pay off the balance ahead of the last lesson. Unless DVS signs off on more, one behind-the-wheel contract can cover no more than 30 hours of teaching.

At home: the 50 hour rule

Under section 171.055 of the statutes, your teen's log must show 40 hours or more beside a licensed driver of 21 or older, with 15 after dark. Then comes a choice: 10 more logged hours (for 50), or proof that the main supervisor completed the parent curriculum. Each line records when the trip happened and how long it lasted, and the main supervisor signs.

DPS counts hours from the day behind-the-wheel lessons begin, and the log has to be complete before the provisional road test. The log form sits on the DVS driver education page. Print the finished version to hand over on test day.

At home: the parent class

Section 171.0701 says the parent curriculum runs 90 minutes or longer and is taught by a driver education instructor, or with one in the room. Public, private and commercial schools alike have to schedule it for any main supervisor who asks.

When you finish, the instructor certifies it, and the law sends that certification in alongside the teen's permit application. Taking it later? Ask how the school will record it, and take the parent certificate to the road test, which DVS lists as one of the items to bring.

At home: who can sit beside your teen

While on the permit, your teen's front passenger can be a certified driver education instructor, you or a guardian, or any other licensed driver of at least 21. Only hours supervised by a licensed driver of 21 or more go in the log.

Different ages apply once the provisional license arrives. Having a licensed adult of 25 or more aboard lifts the midnight to 5 a.m. ban during the first six months, and having you or a guardian aboard lifts the passenger caps.

A worked example of the hours

Say the permit arrives in late April and you skip the parent class. Driving three times a week for 40 minutes gives about 2 hours a week, so 50 hours takes roughly 25 weeks and lands in mid October, close to when the six months end. Long summer evenings make night hours hard to collect, so plan most of the 15 for September and October. Taking the parent class instead would bring the finish line forward to about early September.

Practice for Minnesota roads

If every practice drive is the school run, 50 hours teaches very little. Work in interstates, two-lane country highways, roundabouts, gravel, and parallel parking downtown. Make sure some hours come on snow and ice, because Minnesota holds winter road tests any time the roads can be driven.

DVS publishes a session-by-session plan for supervisors called The Parent's Supervised Driving Program. Use it alongside the Road Test Study Guide so the last few practice drives cover what the examiner actually grades.

Special cases: home school and out-of-state training

A home school family teaching full time can cover the classroom hours at home with approved materials; the in-car hours, however, have to come from a licensed or approved program. Rule 7411.0325 says a home schooled teen needs only proof of in-car enrollment to receive the blue card.

Driver training finished in another state is accepted if it equals 30 hours in class and 6 in the car. Take proof of completion and a certified driving record to the road test.

Test day checklist

Pack the permit, the white card, the printed log, the parent certificate if you have one, glasses if needed, and a licensed adult. The car must have doors that open both from inside and outside, belts that work, all lights working (head, tail, brake and turn), current registration or a 60 day permit, and insurance that is valid that day.

No charge for tests one and two; $20 each after that. Cancelling fewer than 72 hours out costs $20, and fewer than 24 hours out, or not showing up, costs $40.