KY Motorcycle Permit Test study materials
KY Motorcycle Permit Test study resources

KY Motorcycle Permit Test: Sharing the Road with Other Vehicles and Vulnerable Road Users

KY Motorcycle Permit Test · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

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Sharing the Road with Other Vehicles and Vulnerable Road Users

On a motorcycle you are the smallest thing in the traffic mix, and the exam tests whether you can predict where larger vehicles and vulnerable users will go before they go there.

Trucks and buses

Large vehicles have four No-Zone blind spots: directly behind, along both sides of the cab, and directly in front. If you cannot see the driver's face in the mirror, the driver cannot see you. Trucks need extra room to turn right - they often swing left first - so never pass a truck on the right as it approaches a corner, and never sit beside the cab. Do not cut in front of a truck after passing; get far enough ahead that the driver can see your whole bike.

Cyclists, pedestrians and school buses

Kentucky requires drivers to leave at least three feet when passing a cyclist, and cyclists are entitled to the lane when it is too narrow to share. Pass only when you can see far enough ahead, and never pass a vehicle that has stopped at a crosswalk - a pedestrian may be crossing in front of it. Stop for a school bus with red lights flashing on an undivided road; a divided highway with a median is the main exception.

Worked example

A tractor-trailer ahead hugs the right edge and signals left. Reasoning: it is setting up a wide right turn, not changing lanes. Passing on the right puts you between the trailer and the curb, exactly where the trailer will swing. Wait behind, or pass on the left only when the truck is committed to its turn and you have clear space.

Traps

Assuming a trucker sees you beside the cab; passing a cyclist with inches to spare because you are narrow; treating lane splitting as a way through traffic - it is not legal in Kentucky.