Bicycles — Maryland Permit Test

Bicycles on the Maryland permit test — 4 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

When passing a bicycle, drivers must leave at least 3 feet of clearance.

A cyclist can wobble a foot or more to avoid a pothole or a drain, and three feet is the room to survive that.

Bicyclists have the same rights and duties as motor vehicle drivers and may lawfully occupy a full travel lane.

Bicycles are vehicles in law, and a rider taking the lane is often doing it to stay out of opening car doors.

Drivers must yield to bicyclists riding in a bike lane or on a shoulder before crossing or entering it.

A bike lane carries traffic you are about to cross, exactly like a lane of cars, so it is checked the same way.

Bicycle riders under 16 must wear an approved helmet.

Head injuries are what turn a survivable bicycle fall into a life-changing one, and children fall most.

On the test

When passing a bicyclist, you must leave at least how much clearance?

3 feet. A cyclist can wobble a foot or more to avoid a pothole or a drain, and three feet is the room to survive that.

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.

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Where these come from

Every rule here is checked against Maryland Driver's Manual, published by the Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-08-29.