Bicycles passing and doors — Hawaii Permit Test
Bicycles passing and doors on the Hawaii permit test — 4 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
When passing a bicyclist, keep at least 3 feet of space between the bicyclist and your vehicle until you have safely passed.
A small wobble from a bump or a gust can move a cyclist a foot or more toward your car.
Motorists should maintain at least 3 feet of space between the bicyclist and their vehicle until they have safely passed.
Many crashes happen when a motorist passes a bicyclist and then slows and turns right; if you plan to turn right right away, it is better not to pass the bicyclist.
A car that passes and then turns right cuts across the cyclist it just went by.
If you plan to make an immediate right turn, it is better not to pass the bicyclist.
Stay clear of bike lanes, especially when turning right at an intersection, and look for and yield to bicyclists when you cross a bike lane.
A driver who swings across a bike lane without looking turns straight into a cyclist coming up on the right.
Look for and yield to bicyclists when crossing bike lanes.
Look before you open your car door; opening a door unexpectedly so that it creates a hazard for moving traffic, including bicyclists, is a traffic violation.
A door swung open into a bike lane is a wall a cyclist has no time to miss.
It is a traffic violation to open a car door unexpectedly so as to create a hazard for moving traffic, including bicyclists.
On the test
When you pass a bicyclist, how much space should you keep until you have safely passed?
At least 3 feet. A small wobble from a bump or a gust can move a cyclist a foot or more toward your car. State of Hawaii Driver’s Manual, p.97: “Motorists should maintain at least 3 feet of space between the bicyclist and their vehicle until they have safely passed.”
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
- One payment, once — not a subscription. Nothing renews and there is nothing to cancel, for an exam you sit one time.
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- Paying opens the rest of the cards, unlimited full-length practice tests, and retests built from exactly the questions you got wrong.
- Every level up to Prepared — 3 tests passed in a row.
- Do the work, fail the real exam, and we refund you.
Where these come from
Every rule here is checked against State of Hawaii Driver’s Manual, published by the Hawaii Department of Transportation, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-10-05.
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/HI.pdf (State of Hawaii Driver’s Manual, 2023, Hawaii Department of Transportation, retrieved 2026-09-14; sha256 pinned in SOURCES.json)
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/HI.pages.txt (scripts/hi-text.py: PyMuPDF with the clip honored, sorted, hyphens rejoined; the fixture every citation here was cut from and verified against; sha256 pinned in SOURCES.json)
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/HI-exam.html (County of Maui, Division of Motor Vehicles & Licensing, Class 3 Instructional Permit, https://www.mauicounty.gov/1541/Class-3-Instructional-Permit, read 2026-10-05; states both exam figures; sha256 pinned under examSource)
- https://hidot.hawaii.gov/highways/library/motor-vehicle-safety-office/ (read 2026-10-05; links the manual)
- https://hidot.hawaii.gov/highways/files/2021/08/19-122-std-format.pdf (Hawaii Administrative Rules chapter 19-122, the DOT’s own copy, read 2026-10-05; §19-122-10(f)’s 80 percent agrees with the county’s figures)