A 3-minute lesson from the Montana course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.
The first rule of the road is OBEY: the orders of highway patrol, police officers and flaggers; all traffic control devices; and traffic laws. Speed limits are maximums — bad road or weather means driving slower.
General driving rules
Drive at a speed that is safe for conditions
Only move a vehicle when you can do it safely without interfering with traffic
Walk around your parked car before backing up
Never back up or stop in a travel lane for any reason — keep going until you can safely pull off
*Heavy trucks are those over one-ton manufacturer's rated capacity. **The urban-area limit applies to interstates in the Billings, Great Falls and Missoula areas.
On two-lane roads you may drive left of the center line to overtake and pass. On multi-lane roads, the left-most lane is meant for passing slower vehicles.
At night on a two-lane highway, your car's limit is 65 mph. To pass a slow camper in a passing zone, you may briefly go up to 75 mph — 10 over — to complete the pass and get back into the right lane.
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.
You are on a two-lane road and need to overtake and pass a slower vehicle. By how much may you exceed the posted speed limit to complete the pass?
5 mph
15 mph
10 mph
20 mph
Answer: 10 mph
Vehicles on a two-lane road may exceed the speed limit by 10 mph to safely overtake and pass, then return to the right lane.