Is That Legal To Do On Minnesota Roads?

This week marks one year that my wife and I moved to Minnesota from North Carolina. It’s been a great year. We’ve taken credit countless times for the mild winter last year.  

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It’s been a year of learning as well. Our accents aren’t hard to spot, and so we’ve had to learn to speak in a manner that doesn’t leave Minnesotans wonder what we just said. 

One of the biggest learning curves we’ve had this year is learning to drive in Minnesota. I’m trying to be polite here, but some of ya’ll (notice the accent), get behind the wheel and drive like you’re the only ones on the road.  

My wife and I have asked ourselves several times, is that legal in Minnesota? So, we started looking things up to find out.  

For instance, on Saturday morning, we were out traveling up Highway 15 and saw a fellow on a 4-wheeler sitting at a red light. My wife said, "is that legal? Turns out, most of the time it’s not.  

You are not supposed to ride these vehicles on the main road, especially a heavily traveled road like Highway 15. Hence the reason why they’re classified as off-road vehicles. 

Here’s another one for you, I was sitting still in one of the many construction areas that were going on over the summer, I noticed something in my rearview mirror. What the (blank)? I said out loud.  

It was a guy on a motorcycle driving between the two lanes that were stopped. He was going slow, but it still seemed a bit risky. Is that legal in Minnesota? The answer is not right now. 

There is a new law going into effect next July called the “Lane Splitting Law”, which allows motorcycles to cruise slowly through stopped traffic. When it does go into effect, Minnesota will be one of a hand full of states that have this law, but for now, it’s a no-go. 

Here’s another one that still leaves me a little confused, to the point I looked it up. “Is it illegal in Minnesotan's to change lanes when you can do so to safely to allow traffic from an adjoining road to enter the roadway”? They answer from Google: “Your search didn’t match any documents”. Meaning, the answer to the question is No.  

My frustration is that when I’m trying to pull out into a main Highway or roadway from an adjoining road, it seems most Minnesotans are clueless about moving over if they can. If there’s nothing coming up beside you in the other lane, move it over and let the rest of us get to where we’re going. 

Driving anywhere can be dangerous, so let’s look out for one another, and remember unless there’s literally no one else on the road around you, you’re not the only one on the road.