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South Dakota DMV Diagnostic Test – Are You Ready?

Avg. pass rate on our SD tests: 47%.
Average pass rate for this test: 24%.
Hard
2-3 min
Score distribution:
90-100=>2%
80-89=>3%
70-79=>1%
60-69=>7%
<60%=>86%
Avg. first-try score: 20%

South Dakota is home to all the greats. Where else could you find the faces of four iconic presidents carved into granite, visit the site of General Custer’s Last Stand, or explore Wild Bill Hickok’s favorite haunts? However, you’ll need a South Dakota driver’s license to travel to those destinations. You may have been driving since your feet could reach the pedals, and you may know the annoyance of dealing with a herd of bison stalling traffic, but you will still have to answer 80% of the 25 questions correctly on the South Dakota driver’s license knowledge test. You need to carefully consider how to prepare yourself using the most valuable resources avaiable.

This free South Dakota DMV Diagnostic practice test is a proven resource capable of analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of your driving skills. While the official test uses many questions that you may easily answer correctly, there are also less obvious ones requiring careful thought and consideration. The practice test uses 8 of the questions most often missed on the South Dakota knowledge test to assess your readiness. If your plan is to guess your way through what you don’t know, you’re setting yourself up to fail. The practice test can take away all the guesswork and help you pass the official test on the first try.

Tricky exam topics covered here:
Fines & Penalties
Lane Lines & Markings
Road Signs
South Dakota DMV Diagnostic Test – Are You Ready?
SD DMV driver's license
Written in-house by our team Based on SD Driver Handbook
2 SD students online
73 tests completed today statewide

Reviewed for legal and handbook accuracy

Steven Litvintchouk

M.S., Chief Educational Researcher (ACES member)

Last verified for accuracy on

Test design and learning experience oversight

Andrei Zakhareuski

Co-founder & CEO, Driving-Tests.org

Questions are created and maintained by the Driving-Tests.org content team following our multi-layer editorial process and updated whenever the South Dakota DMV changes its handbook or website information. Official sources we check: 

About the South Dakota learner permit

Based on the most recent South Dakota Driver’s Manual (South Dakota DMV Handbook (SD Driver's Manual) 2025) and up to date as of December 2025, the practice test expertly prepares you to rise to the challenges of your official knowledge test. The instruction that you receive from the practice test is superior to anything from a study guide. You won’t be memorizing the answers to the questions. Instead, you will learn the information underlying the correct answers. Any wrong answer you provide will be followed by a detailed explanation of the correct answer. This approach enhances your test-taking skills and puts you on the road to success.

The Badlands may sound like a place you don’t want to be, but you should. Still, if you’re looking to get away and discover other practice tests for the U.S. states and Washington D.C., please visit https://driving-tests.org/academy/drivers-license.

We know what it takes to pass. And we’ve got the proof.

Driver’s Ed is - nobody wants to set foot inside the DMV. That’s why millions of learners trust us for simple, visual, effective prep.

An official & trusted partner in driver education

We are an officially recognized FMCSA Entry-Level Driver Training provider and a proud partner to over 2,500 libraries. We work with safety organizations like GHSA and the National Safety Council to help create safer roads for everyone.

A smarter way to study

Challenge Bank™

Our trademarked system automatically saves questions you miss, creating personalized tests that target your weak spots until you’ve mastered the material.

AI-powered feedback

Get smarter as you study. Our new AI-powered feedback provides detailed, question-level insights to help you understand the why behind each answer.

Interactive handbook

Go beyond the boring black-and-white manual. Our interactive handbook lets you read, listen with an MP3 audio version, or even chat with it to find the information you need, faster.