Sharing with bicyclists — New York Permit Test
Sharing with bicyclists on the New York permit test — 9 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
People on bicycles have the same rights and responsibilities as people behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.
A rider is a road user with the same standing. They are owed the same courtesy.
People on bicycles have the same rights and responsibilities as people behind the wheel of a motor vehicle.
Drivers must be alert to the presence of bicyclists and drive responsibly to avoid colliding with them or encroaching on their rightful path of travel.
The rider's line is theirs. Drifting into it is what takes them down.
Drivers must be alert to the presence of bicyclists and drive responsibly to avoid colliding with them or encroaching on their rightful path of travel.
A driver should yield to bicyclists as they would to other drivers and should not underestimate their speed, which helps avoid turning in front of a bicyclist.
Bikes move faster than they look. That is why drivers turn across them.
Yield to bicyclists as you would other drivers and do not underestimate their speed.
In parking lots, at stop signs, when backing up, when parking, and before opening their door, a driver should search their surroundings for people, bicycles and other vehicles.
A parking lot has bikes moving in every direction. The look has to be all the way round.
In parking lots, at stop signs, when backing up, when parking, and before opening your door, search your surroundings for people, bicycles and other vehicles.
Drivers turning right on red should look to the right and behind to avoid hitting a bicyclist approaching from the right rear, stopping completely and looking left, right, left and behind before turning.
A rider coming up on the right arrives in the exact spot the turn goes through.
Drivers turning right on red should look to the right and behind to avoid hitting a bicyclist approaching from the right rear.
A driver should pass bicyclists as they would any other vehicle, moving over into an adjacent lane when it is safe, and should look before getting out of a parked vehicle to avoid opening a door into the path of an oncoming bicyclist.
A squeeze past in the same lane leaves no room for a wobble.
Give cyclists room. Do not pass too closely.
A bicycle lane is a marked lane dedicated for use by bicycles, a two-way cycle track is a marked bicycle lane that allows travel in both directions, and a bike box is a marked area at an intersection ahead of where traffic is required to stop.
Each has a shape and a job. Knowing which is which is how a driver stays out of it.
Bicycle lane – a marked lane dedicated for use by bicycles.
Drivers are prohibited from operating in dedicated bicycle spaces such as bicycle lanes, bike boxes, two-way cycle tracks and green painted cycle lanes.
The space is set aside so riders have somewhere predictable to be.
Drivers are prohibited from operating in these dedicated spaces and must be aware of how bicyclists operate in and around these spaces.
A driver must anticipate that bicyclists will not follow the rules of the road, even though bicyclists must obey them the same as a motor vehicle driver.
The rule and the reality differ. A driver who plans for the reality stops in time.
Bicyclists must also obey the rules of the road the same as a motor vehicle driver but as a driver you must anticipate that they will not follow the rules of the road.
On the test
What standing does a bicyclist have on the road?
The same as a motor vehicle. A rider is a road user with the same standing. They are owed the same courtesy. New York State Driver's Manual, p.69: “People on bicycles have the same rights and responsibilities as people behind the wheel of a motor 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 New York State Driver's Manual, published by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-15.