Michigan driving lesson · Emergencies and Special Situations
Freeway driving and merging
A 3-minute lesson from the Michigan course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.
Freeway traffic all flows one way, with no stops or intersections, at high speed. Getting on smoothly, choosing the right lane and knowing who must yield when merging keep it that way.
An entrance ramp usually leads into an acceleration lane where you match freeway speed. Exit ramps are often right next to entrance ramps, so look for Do Not Enter, Wrong Way and speed limit signs.
To enter, signal and check traffic with your mirrors and quick glances over your shoulder. Pick a safe gap and merge, yielding to vehicles already on the freeway. Don't count on others to let you in.
HOV lanes operate during peak hours such as rush hour and require two or more occupants. Outside those hours they're open to everyone. Motorcycles may use them at any time.
Watch for vehicles merging near entrances, and adjust speed or change lanes to let them in. Also watch for drivers who suddenly slow or swerve toward an exit.
Never stop on a freeway except in an emergency. Turn on your hazard flashers, slow gradually and pull completely off the pavement as soon as it's safe.
Michigan's merge law (MCL 257.649(7)): the merging vehicle must yield to any vehicle close enough to be an immediate hazard and adjust its speed to merge safely. This applies whether you're entering or exiting and merging.
You're on the entrance ramp and a car is right beside you in the freeway's right lane. It's your job — not theirs — to adjust your speed and position so you merge safely behind or ahead of it.
Check your understanding
Read the question, decide on an answer, then open it to check the explanation. These are Roadwise study questions based on the source handbook.
Which of these vehicles is banned from Michigan freeways?
A car towing a trailer
A moped
A semi-truck
A motorcycle with a 150cc engine
Answer: A moped
Mopeds, along with pedestrians, small motorcycles under 125cc, bicycles, ATVs, and slow-moving vehicles, are banned from freeways.
On a two-lane freeway, when is it acceptable to drive in the left lane?
Only during rush hour
Whenever you exceed 65 mph
Never; the left lane is for trucks
To pass or to exit on the left
Answer: To pass or to exit on the left
On a two-lane freeway, drive in the right lane except when passing, exiting left, letting traffic merge, in heavy congestion or when workers or emergency vehicles are on the shoulder.