A vehicle ahead has stopped at a crosswalk to let someone walk across. What must you avoid?
Correct answer: Overtaking and passing the stopped vehicle.
Another vehicle approaching from the rear must not pass a vehicle stopped for a pedestrian at a marked crosswalk or an unmarked intersection crosswalk. A person may be hidden from your view.
Source: South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 56-5-3130(d); Vehicle stopped at crosswalk; current official text reviewed September 21, 2026. ↗
A pedestrian crosses away from a marked crosswalk or intersection crosswalk. Does the pedestrian's duty to yield remove your duty to avoid a collision?
Correct answer: No; you must still exercise due care.
A pedestrian crossing there generally must yield, but drivers still must exercise due care to avoid collisions. Right of way is not permission to hit someone.
Source: South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 56-5-3150(a); 56-5-3230; Midblock pedestrian and due care; current official text reviewed September 21, 2026. ↗
You see a child at the road edge who appears ready to run across. What does the due-care rule require?
Correct answer: Take proper precautions to avoid a collision.
The rule specifically calls for proper precautions when a child is observed. Anticipate unpredictable movement and adjust your driving to avoid a collision.
Source: South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 56-5-3230; Children near the roadway; current official text reviewed September 21, 2026. ↗
A blind pedestrian has neither a white cane nor a guide dog. Does that person lose the pedestrian rights provided by law?
Correct answer: No; those pedestrian rights remain.
The statute expressly preserves the pedestrian rights of a blind or otherwise incapacitated person who does not have the specified cane or guide dog.
Source: South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 56-5-3220; Pedestrian without cane or dog; current official text reviewed September 21, 2026. ↗
At an unsignalized crosswalk, a pedestrian on the opposite half of the road is approaching closely enough to be in danger from your car. What is required?
Correct answer: Yield, slowing or stopping as needed.
The crosswalk rule also covers a pedestrian approaching so closely from the opposite half of the road as to be in danger. It is not limited to someone already directly in your lane.
Source: South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 56-5-3130(a); Pedestrian approaching your half; current official text reviewed September 21, 2026. ↗
You turn across a sidewalk into a driveway. Who has priority on the sidewalk?
Correct answer: Pedestrians and other traffic already on the sidewalk.
A driver crossing a sidewalk must yield to pedestrians and all other traffic on it. A turn signal does not transfer priority to the vehicle.
Source: South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 56-5-3250; Crossing a sidewalk; current official text reviewed September 21, 2026. ↗
A marked safety zone for pedestrians is empty. May you drive through it to shorten a turn?
Correct answer: No; vehicles must not drive through or within the safety zone.
The prohibition on driving through or within a safety zone is not limited to times when it is occupied. Keep the vehicle outside it.
Source: South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 56-5-3240; Pedestrian safety zone; current official text reviewed September 21, 2026. ↗
On a two-way road with neither sidewalk nor shoulder, where should a pedestrian walking along the road keep?
Correct answer: Near the outside edge on the left, facing approaching traffic.
When no sidewalk or shoulder is available, the rule requires walking as near as practicable to the outside edge and, on a two-way road, on the left side. Drivers must remain alert for pedestrians there.
Source: South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 56-5-3160(c); Walking where no shoulder exists; current official text reviewed September 21, 2026. ↗
What does South Carolina's bicycle-distance statute require of a motorist?
Correct answer: Maintain a safe operating distance from the bicycle at all times.
The section requires a safe operating distance; it does not specify a universal three-foot number. Do not assume a close pass is safe merely because contact is avoided.
Source: South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 56-5-3435; Safe bicycle clearance; current official text reviewed September 21, 2026. ↗
A fallen branch blocks the bike lane. May a bicyclist leave it to avoid the obstruction?
Correct answer: Yes; avoiding an obstruction is a stated exception.
Bicyclists generally use the adjacent bicycle lane, but the law permits leaving it when necessary to pass another cyclist or avoid an obstruction. Allow room for that movement.
Source: South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 56-5-3425(B)(2); Cyclist avoiding an obstruction; current official text reviewed September 21, 2026. ↗
The only lane continuing toward a bicyclist's intended route is not the right-hand lane. May the bicyclist use that route lane?
Correct answer: Yes; the statute allows that situation.
A bicyclist may use a lane other than the right-hand lane when only one lane permits continuation on the intended route. Do not assume that position is automatically unlawful.
Source: South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 56-5-3430(B); Cyclist's route lane; current official text reviewed September 21, 2026. ↗
A shoulder is present, but the cyclist is riding lawfully near the right side of the roadway. Must the cyclist use the shoulder under this section?
Correct answer: No; use of the shoulder is permitted but not required.
The law requires riding as near the right side as practicable, subject to exceptions, and expressly makes shoulder use optional. Motorists must still keep a safe distance.
Source: South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 56-5-3430(A); Bicycle shoulder choice; current official text reviewed September 21, 2026. ↗
There is an adjacent recreational bicycle path, but no bicycle lane. Does that alone require cyclists to leave the roadway?
Correct answer: No; they may ride on the roadway.
The statute distinguishes a recreational bicycle path from an adjacent bicycle lane. The presence of only a recreational path does not require a bicyclist to use it.
Source: South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 56-5-3425(B)(2); Recreational path versus bike lane; current official text reviewed September 21, 2026. ↗
Traffic queues ahead. May you stop your car across a bicycle lane and block approaching bicycle traffic merely to join the queue?
Correct answer: No; motorists must not block the lane to bicycle traffic.
Motor vehicles may not block a bicycle lane to oncoming bicycle traffic. Leave it clear rather than using the bicycle space as part of the traffic queue.
Source: South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 56-5-3425(B)(1); Blocking a bicycle lane; current official text reviewed September 21, 2026. ↗
You must cross a bicycle lane to enter a driveway, and a bicyclist is approaching in it. What must you do first?
Correct answer: Yield to the bicyclist before entering or crossing the lane.
The motorist must yield to a bicyclist in the bicycle lane before entering or crossing it. Signaling your intended maneuver does not replace yielding.
Source: South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 56-5-3425(B)(1); Entering across a bicycle lane; current official text reviewed September 21, 2026. ↗
Two bicyclists ride side by side on the roadway. Does South Carolina's number-abreast rule prohibit that arrangement by itself?
Correct answer: No; the ordinary roadway limit is no more than two abreast.
The roadway rule permits up to two abreast, with a separate exception for areas set aside for exclusive bicycle use. Other applicable riding and safety rules still matter.
Source: South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 56-5-3430(D); Two bicyclists abreast; current official text reviewed September 21, 2026. ↗
A bicyclist extends the right arm horizontally to the right. What does that signal indicate?
Correct answer: A right turn.
Extending the right arm horizontally is one of the legal right-turn signals for a bicyclist. Recognize it before deciding how to pass or turn.
Source: South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 56-5-3480(A)(1); Bicycle right-turn signal; current official text reviewed September 21, 2026. ↗
A bicyclist extends an arm downward. What may that signal mean?
Correct answer: Stopping or decreasing speed.
The bicycle signaling rule permits either arm extended downward to indicate stopping or slowing. Be ready to reduce speed and keep adequate space.
Source: South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 56-5-3480(A)(3); Bicycle slowing signal; current official text reviewed September 21, 2026. ↗
A bicyclist signals a turn, then returns the hand to the handlebar to maintain control. Is continuous arm signaling required in that situation?
Correct answer: No; the law excepts times when the hand or arm is needed for control.
The statute does not require continuous hand signaling when the hand or arm is needed to control the bicycle. Continue watching the cyclist's position and movement.
Source: South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 56-5-3480(B); Hands needed to control a bicycle; current official text reviewed September 21, 2026. ↗
A driver deliberately taunts a bicyclist for using the roadway. Is it lawful simply because nothing is thrown and no crash occurs?
Correct answer: No; harassment or taunting is itself prohibited.
The law prohibits harassment and taunting as well as maliciously throwing an object at or toward a cyclist. A collision is not required for the prohibition to apply.
Source: South Carolina Code of Laws, Section 56-5-3445; Harassing a bicyclist; current official text reviewed September 21, 2026. ↗
