Sharing the road in Indiana

By the end of this topic you can

• You can yield correctly to pedestrians, including people who are visually impaired.
• You can pass a bicyclist with enough room and avoid turning across their path.
• You can leave the right following distance behind motorcycles and trucks.
• You can name a tractor-trailer's blind spots.
• You can cross railroad tracks safely and know what to do if you stall on them.

What you need to know and understand

• Always yield to pedestrians, and never make a turn that forces a pedestrian to stop or hurry.
• Drivers must yield to anyone using a white cane or guide dog.
• Pass a bicyclist only with at least three feet of space and no danger from oncoming traffic.
• Bicyclists may use either the bike lane or the travel lane, and may ride up to two abreast.
• Give motorcycles a full lane and follow them by at least three to four seconds.
• A loaded tractor-trailer with hot brakes may need more than 400 feet to stop. A car at 55 mph needs roughly 130 to 140 feet.
• Once crossing lights start flashing and the gate begins to lower, you have about 20 seconds before a train arrives.

Pedestrians and bicyclists

Children may cross at unexpected places, and older people may need extra time. On most roads bicyclists have the same rights and duties as drivers, so you yield to them just as you would to another vehicle.

Do not drive or park in a bike lane, and do not move into one to prepare for a turn. Cross it only when turning or entering or leaving a driveway, alley or private road. When turning left, let an oncoming bicyclist go through first. When turning right, let a bicyclist on your right go first. Check for bicyclists before opening a car door.

Motorcycles, buggies and slow vehicles

Motorcycles are small, easy to miss in a mirror and can stop quickly. Riders may swerve to avoid potholes, gravel or rail crossings. Their turn signals often do not cancel on their own, so wait to see what the rider actually does.

Farm machinery, construction equipment and animal-drawn vehicles carry the orange slow-moving vehicle emblem. Approach and pass them carefully, and watch for hand signals from horseback riders and buggy drivers.

Living with tractor-trailers

• Blind spots: up to 20 feet in front of the cab, along both sides of the trailer, beside the cab, and up to 200 feet behind.
• If you cannot see the driver's mirrors, the driver cannot see you.
• Pass on the left, pass completely and do not linger alongside.
• Do not cut in front to reach an exit or beat the truck into a lane closure.
• Trucks swing wide to turn. Watch the signal before passing on the right.
• A truck often looks slower than it is, so do not misjudge its speed at intersections.

Railroad crossings

1. Slow down and look and listen both ways as you approach.
2. A crossbuck alone works like a yield sign. With a stop sign, stop completely.
3. If lights flash, bells ring or the gate is down, stop and wait until they end or an officer or railroad flagger waves you on. Driving around a lowered gate is illegal.
4. Cross only if you can clear the tracks without stopping, and do not shift gears on the tracks.
5. If you stall with a train coming, get everyone out and run away at a 45-degree angle toward the direction the train is coming from, then call 911.
6. If no train is coming, call the number on the blue Emergency Notification System sign, then call 911.

Common mistakes

• Passing a bicyclist too closely on a narrow road instead of waiting for a safe gap.
• Following a motorcycle at car distance, leaving no room if the rider brakes hard.
• Sitting beside a truck's trailer on the interstate where the driver cannot see you.
• Starting across tracks behind another car and getting stuck on them in traffic.

Test yourself: Sharing the road in Indiana

Answer each question, then read the explanation. Questions come in a random order each time.

Go deeper

• Indiana Hands-Free Law and the Under-21 Phone Ban
• Indiana Driving Test
• Indiana Bioptic Driver Program