7 Things Minnesota Drivers Can Get Ticketed for That Feel Completely Legal
That air freshener hanging from your rearview mirror can get you a ticket in Minnesota.
It feels harmless, and so do other habits drivers get pulled over for.
Here’s what Minnesota drivers can get ticketed for that feels completely legal.
Note: This is general information, not legal advice. Traffic laws and city snow emergency rules are subject to change, so confirm the current rules with the Minnesota Department of Public Safety or your city.
1. Phone in Hand at a Red Light
The hands-free law has an exception for a stopped car, but your lane at a red light doesn’t qualify.
To qualify, a car has to be lawfully stopped, sit in a place not designed or ordinarily used for vehicular travel, and not block traffic.
A red light isn’t parking.
Outside that exception, you can’t hold a phone in either hand while you drive.
But the ban isn’t only about texting, since it reaches email, images, video and gaming data too.
Calls and navigation are legal in hands-free mode, with a few emergency exceptions.
The law also says hands-free mode doesn’t include typing or scrolling on a device.
A second or later violation carries a $275 fine.
2. Studded Tires
Studs on your winter tires break the tire law, which bars any stud, cleat or spike that projects beyond the tread.
Many drivers assume studs are a normal winter upgrade.
Tire chains of reasonable proportions are allowed when snow or ice makes them necessary for safety.
Studs get no such pass.
A visitor whose car is registered in a state or province that allows studs can use them in Minnesota occasionally.
Occasionally means no more than 30 days in any consecutive six-month period.
If you work or study in Minnesota, that exception isn’t yours.
3. Air Freshener on the Mirror
Anything that hangs between you and the windshield runs into the windshield law, apart from a short list of exceptions.
The list names sun visors, rearview mirrors and electronic toll devices, among a few others.
Driver safety monitors mounted near the mirror and navigation units near the bottom of the windshield made the list too.
Air fresheners aren’t on it.
Neither are parking passes or fuzzy dice.
Many drivers hang one on the mirror without a second thought.
The same law bars signs, posters and other nontransparent material on your windshield or side and rear windows, other than papers the law requires you to display.
What a Traffic Ticket Means
Minnesota’s traffic law makes a violation a petty misdemeanor unless the law says otherwise.
A judge decides a petty misdemeanor case, with no jury and no jail time.
The fine tops out at $300.
A violation becomes a misdemeanor instead if it endangers, or is likely to endanger, any person or property.
4. Daytime Headlights in Snow
Under the headlight law, you need lighted headlamps and tail lamps whenever it’s raining, snowing, sleeting or hailing.
Daylight doesn’t change that.
A bright afternoon can make headlights feel optional to some drivers.
The same law covers any other time weather, smoke, fog or other conditions impair your view.
Psst! How much do you know about snowplows, ice and storms? Take our quiz and see how many you can get right.
Quiz
Minnesota Winter Roads IQ
Answer these questions on Minnesota snowplows, ice and storms. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
Is it illegal under Minnesota state law to pass a moving snowplow?
5. Snow Emergency Parking
A spot that was legal yesterday can get your car ticketed and towed once Minneapolis declares a snow emergency.
The city bans parking on both sides of snow emergency routes starting at 9 p.m. on Day 1, so your car has to be off them by then.
Those routes reopen once they're fully plowed.
On Day 2 at 8 a.m., the even side of other streets goes off limits, and the odd side follows on Day 3.
The city's Day 2 instructions add that between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m., you move your vehicle from the odd side to the even side.
St. Paul runs a different system, with no parking on downtown streets after 9 p.m. on the first night.
By midday Monday after the snow emergency that began Nov. 30, 2025, Minneapolis had ticketed 563 vehicles and towed 236.
St. Paul had ticketed 1,385 and towed 351.
CBS News reported that drivers who ended up with cars in the Minneapolis impound lot were out at least $222, not including the parking ticket.
6. Moving Over for Work Vehicles
Tow trucks, utility trucks, postal vehicles, garbage trucks and recycling trucks all count under the move-over law, not just squad cars.
Many drivers think the rule is only for police cars and ambulances.
It applies when one of those vehicles is parked or otherwise stopped with its emergency, flashing or warning lights on.
On a road with two lanes going your direction, you move to the lane farthest from the vehicle, if you can.
With more than two lanes, leave one full lane empty between you and the vehicle, if you can.
If you can't change lanes, you slow to a reasonable and prudent speed until you've passed.
A peace officer can cite you within four hours after the incident ends, even without seeing it happen.
7. Cruising in the Left Lane
The left-lane rule says you move out of the left-most lane to let another vehicle pass, when practicable.
It applies on any road with more than one lane going your direction.
Sitting in the left lane at the speed limit can feel like the responsible choice to some drivers.
You can stay left to pass another vehicle, to get ready for a left turn or exit, or in a lane posted for a certain kind of traffic.
Speed isn't on that list.
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