Sharing with bicyclists — Pennsylvania Permit Test
Sharing with bicyclists on the Pennsylvania permit test — 6 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
When passing a bicycle you must leave at least four feet between your vehicle and the bicycle, and you may cross the center double yellow line to do it if you can do so safely.
Four feet is the room a rider needs to swerve around a pothole you will never notice.
When passing, you must allow at least four (4) feet between your vehicle and a bicycle in order to pass safely.
After passing a bicyclist, do not slow down or stop quickly, because a quick stop could put the rider into the back of your vehicle.
The rider has no crumple zone and nowhere to go.
After you have passed a bicyclist, do not slow down or stop quickly. A quick stop could lead to the bicyclist crashing into your vehicle.
Drivers may not turn into the path of a cyclist riding straight ahead on a road or shoulder, and forcing a cyclist off the road can bring criminal charges.
The cyclist has the same right to go straight as any driver does.
You cannot force a bicyclist off the road. If you do this, you may face criminal charges.
Bicyclists are treated as vehicle operators and must obey traffic laws, but they may travel below the posted minimum speed and may not be cited for holding up traffic.
A bicycle cannot go as fast as a car, and the law does not pretend otherwise.
they may travel at less than the posted minimum speed and may not be cited for impeding traffic
The Dutch Reach means opening your door with the hand further from it, which turns your body and lets you see an approaching cyclist.
The turn your body makes is what puts the cyclist in your eyeline.
Open the door with your far hand (the hand farther from the door)
Do not sound your horn close to a bicyclist unless you must do so to avoid a crash.
A blast at close range can startle a rider straight off their line.
Do not sound your horn close to bicyclists, unless you must do so to avoid a crash.
On the test
How much room must you leave when passing a bicycle in Pennsylvania?
At least four feet. Four feet is the room a rider needs to swerve around a pothole you will never notice. PA Driver's Manual, p.92: “When passing, you must allow at least four (4) feet between your vehicle and a bicycle in order to pass safely.”
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 PA Driver's Manual, published by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-06.