Turning and doors near bicycles — Maine Permit Test

Turning and doors near bicycles on the Maine permit test — 3 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

In Maine, a driver near a bicyclist may not make a right turn unless it can be made with reasonable safety and without interfering with the bicycle.

A car turning right across a rider beside it is the classic way cyclists are hit.

A driver of a motor vehicle near a person operating a bicycle may not make a right turn unless the turn can be made with reasonable safety and without interfering with the safe and legal operation of the bicycle.

Maine Driver’s License Manual, p.103

Do not use your horn close to bicyclists unless there is a chance of a crash, since it can startle them into steering into your path.

A blast of the horn right beside a rider can make him swerve into your car.

Do not use your horn close to bicycles unless there is a chance of a crash.

Maine Driver’s License Manual, p.103

When opening your car door, the manual recommends the Dutch Reach: open the driver's door with your right hand, which turns your body to look back for bicyclists.

A door flung open with the near hand can swing right into a passing rider.

Using the Dutch reach method, the driver will open their door using the right hand.

Maine Driver’s License Manual, p.103

On the test

When may you turn right with a bicyclist close beside you?

When it is safe and won't block the rider. A car turning right across a rider beside it is the classic way cyclists are hit. Maine Driver’s License Manual, p.103: “A driver of a motor vehicle near a person operating a bicycle may not make a right turn unless the turn can be made with reasonable safety and without interfering with the safe and legal operation of 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 Maine Driver’s License Manual, published by the Maine Secretary of State, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-10-05.