Passing — Maryland Permit Test
Passing on the Maryland permit test — 5 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
Before passing, estimate the time and space you need and be sure you can pass without getting in the way of any other vehicle, and use your turn signal before you pull out.
The whole maneuver has to be decided before it starts, because there is no way to undo half of it.
Estimate the time and space needed to pass and be sure you can pass without getting in the way of any other vehicle.
You should generally pass on the left, but you may pass on the right when the other vehicle is about to make a left turn, or on an unobstructed road with two or more lanes going your way.
A vehicle waiting to turn left has left you the only road there is.
The other vehicle is about to make a left turn.
You may not pass when crossing or within 100 feet of an intersection or a railroad grade crossing.
Cross traffic is looking for a car in the lane it expects, not for one coming past on the wrong side.
When crossing or within 100 feet of an intersection or railroad grade crossing.
You may not pass on the shoulder of the road, on either the right or the left.
The shoulder is where a broken-down car waits, and you cannot see it past the vehicle you are passing.
On the shoulder of the road, either to the right or to the left.
When another vehicle is passing you, you must yield to it and must not increase your speed.
Speeding up strands the other driver on the wrong side of the road with nowhere to go.
When being passed by another vehicle, you must yield to the other vehicle and not increase your speed.
On the test
What must you do before you start to pass?
Judge the space, and signal first. The whole maneuver has to be decided before it starts, because there is no way to undo half of it. Maryland Driver's Manual, p.16: “Estimate the time and space needed to pass and be sure you can pass without getting in the way of any other vehicle.”
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.
- Free to start: a 10-question test and the first section of cards. No sign-up and no account.
- 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 Maryland Driver's Manual, published by the Maryland Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Administration, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-06.