New MN Law Requires Driver’s License Exam To Be Easier To Read

ST. PAUL, MN — A new law that requires "plain language" on driver’s license exams in Minnesota went into effect on Monday.

The law aims to ensure that written driver’s license exams test how well applicants understand the rules of the road rather than their ability to decode "complex sentences," according to the Minnesota House.

Specifically, the Department of Public Safety must create plain language standards and a new written test by Feb. 1, 2025.

The test must be organized "to serve the reader's needs and written using clear, simplified language," the law states.

Under the law, test language should:

• Use the word “you” to address test takers directly
• Use the active voice
• Use concrete, familiar words
• Avoid long and complex sentences
• Minimize the use of abbreviations
• Omit double negatives and terms such as "except for," "unless," and "indicated otherwise."

A one-time $212,000 appropriation from the Driver and Vehicle Services Operating Account will go to implementing the new standards.

The bill was sponsored by two Democrats, Rep. Brad Tabke and Sen. Clare Oumou Verbeten.