Passing bicycles safely — Delaware Permit Test

Passing bicycles safely on the Delaware permit test — 4 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

In Delaware, if a lane is wide enough for your vehicle and a bicycle, you may pass without changing lanes, but you must slow down and keep at least 3 feet of clearance.

At higher speeds the air pushed by a passing car can knock a rider off, so speed matters as much as space.

In the unusual case of very wide travel lanes (wide enough for both your vehicle and a bicycle), the law permits you to pass a bicycle without changing lanes but requires that you (a) slow down when doing so and (b) leave a minimum of three feet of clearance at all times between your vehicle and the bicycle.

Delaware Driver Manual, p.97

On a two-lane road where you cannot see far enough or oncoming traffic blocks a safe pass, follow the bicycle at a safe distance and wait.

A driver who swings out around a bike on a blind hill can meet an oncoming car head on.

If the road you are driving on has only two lanes and you are unable to pass safely because of lack of visibility and/or oncoming traffic, follow at a safe distance and wait until it is safe before passing.

Delaware Driver Manual, p.97

After passing a cyclist, leave plenty of room before you pull back to the right, because the cyclist may be going faster than you think.

A car that cuts back in too soon puts its rear bumper where the rider is about to be.

Allow plenty of clearance after overtaking a cyclist, before you pull to the right.

Delaware Driver Manual, p.97

Delaware warns drivers not to pass a cyclist only to turn directly in front of them.

A car that passes and then turns right cuts across a rider who has no time to brake.

Don’t pass a cyclist only to turn directly in front of them.

Delaware Driver Manual, p.97

On the test

In a very wide lane, what must you do besides keep 3 feet away when you pass a bicycle without changing lanes?

Slow down as you pass. At higher speeds the air pushed by a passing car can knock a rider off, so speed matters as much as space. Delaware Driver Manual, p.97: “In the unusual case of very wide travel lanes (wide enough for both your vehicle and a bicycle), the law permits you to pass a bicycle without changing lanes but requires that you (a) slow down when doing so and (b) leave a minimum of three feet of clearance at all times between your vehicle and the bicycle.”

How this works

Most practice tests hand you a bank of questions and leave the manual somewhere else. This one puts them together.

You read one law and the reason behind it, then answer a question on that law while it is still fresh. Get it right and you move on; get it wrong and you have found the gap while it is cheap to fix, not on the morning of the exam.

Learning one rule at a time, and proving it immediately, is what turns a manual you skimmed into something you actually know — and it makes studying feel like getting somewhere rather than like waiting to find out.

What it costs

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Where these come from

Every rule here is checked against Delaware Driver Manual, published by the Delaware Division of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-10-05.