A 3-minute lesson from the Missouri course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.
Bicycles and mopeds are small, slow and easy to overlook, and most collisions with them happen at intersections. On public roads, riders have the same rights and responsibilities as motor vehicle operators.
Driving near bicycles and mopeds:
Scan intersections for them and give them the same consideration as any other vehicle
Turning right onto a main road? Look right for wrong-way cyclists on the road or sidewalk
Following a cyclist and turning right? Slow down and stay behind until you can turn
Turning left? Yield to oncoming cyclists unless you're sure you'll clear the intersection first
Expect changes in speed or position for manhole covers, tracks, drain grates, debris or wind
Check for cyclists before opening your door into a traffic lane or bike lane
Riders must ride with traffic, never against it. When slower than traffic, ride as near the right side as is safe, leaving space from hazards like ditches, gutters, sand and gravel.
Riders should leave three to four feet when passing to the left of parked or moving vehicles. In heavy traffic, less proficient cyclists may wait near the curb for a safe gap.
You're waiting to turn right onto a main road and looking left for a gap. Before you go, look right too: a wrong-way cyclist on the sidewalk could be heading into your path.
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.
Where do most collisions between motor vehicles and bicycles/mopeds happen?
On highways
In parking lots
On rural gravel roads
At intersections
Answer: At intersections
Most collisions with bicycles and mopeds happen at intersections, where they are easy to overlook.