You are overtaking a motorcycle travelling in the centre of its lane on a two-lane road. How should the pass be executed?

Why C is correct

A motorcycle occupies a full lane and is entitled to all of it, and the pass should give the rider the same full-lane clearance you would give a car. The reasons are physical: turbulence from close passes destabilises a light vehicle, riders adjust position within the lane for surface hazards you may not see, and any wobble in your own line that would graze a mirror on a car can take down a rider entirely. Sharing the lane during a pass removes every one of those margins and converts a routine overtake into a contact risk.

Why the other options are wrong

A. Pass on the shoulder to shorten the time alongside the rider

The shoulder is not a passing lane. Paving edges collect debris, and an emergency lane is exactly where a rider or a broken-down car is most likely to appear during your shortened pass.

B. Sound your horn continuously during the pass to alert the rider

A sustained horn blast is noise, not communication, and at the rider's speed it may not even register before you are past. If any signal is warranted, a light flash from well back does the job without startling someone balanced on two wheels.

D. Squeeze past within the same lane, because motorcycles are narrow enough to share it

Lane-sharing during a pass puts you inside the rider's safety envelope, which exists precisely because riders move laterally for oil streaks, gravel and road crown. The motorcycle's narrowness is the rider's problem to use; it is not your clearance to spend.

On the road

A sport bike holds the centre of its lane up the foothill road, rider in full gear. The broken line gives you your window: you signal, drop a gear, and pass with your left wheels effectively in the middle of the oncoming lane. As you clear, the rider leans slightly — checking the mirror, not waving — and the whole exchange costs you four seconds and neither party a shudder.

Similar questions

• Backing Safely | CO

  Before reversing out of a driveway onto a street with foot traffic, what is the safest way to establish what is behind your vehicle?

• The Stale Green Light | CO

  You are approaching a signal that has been green the entire time you have been able to see it. What is the defensive habit for this situation?

• First Rain After a Dry Spell | CO

  A light rain begins after two weeks of dry weather. Why do experienced drivers treat the first stretch of rainfall as unusually slippery?

• Passing on the Right | CO

  A car in the lane to your left is stopped, waiting to make a left turn. The pavement to its right is wide enough for another vehicle. When may you pass it on the right?

• Driving in Fog | CO

  You enter a stretch of dense fog on a rural highway. Which headlight setting is correct, and why?