Basic Driving: Before You Drive, Risk Management, Defensive Driving and Visual Search, Every Right-of-Way Rule, Speed Limits and Speeding, Speed for Conditions, the 3-to-4-Second Following Distance, Stopping Distance, Lane Driving, Turning, U-Turns, Passing on the Left and Right, Where Passing Is Forbidden, and General Parking Rules
Written for aiforu2 as the source for a practice-test bank and the on-device tutor for the Maryland MVA knowledge test. The facts follow the official manual; the wording is ours.
Source: Maryland Driver's Manual (MDOT MVA, December 2025), Section 3 "Basic Driving" (pages 13–16).
Before you drive
You and your vehicle should be in good condition, you must carry a valid permit or license and the registration card, adjust the seat and mirrors, and make sure everyone is belted. Manage risk by adjusting speed, position and direction to conditions, keeping control, increasing your time to respond, signaling your intentions, keeping a safe distance, never assuming other drivers will do the right thing, and always being careful.
Defensive driving
The basic rule is that you must control the vehicle at all times to avoid a crash. Constantly watch the front, sides and rear so you can see problems early and change speed or lanes in time; searching ahead and being ready to react is defensive driving.
Right-of-way
Yielding means letting others go first, and you never automatically have the right-of-way. Yield to the driver who arrives at an intersection before you; to the driver on your right when you arrive together; to the driver on your right at a four-way stop; to pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers still in the intersection; to drivers already on the through road when you stop at a T intersection; to others when a yield sign faces you; to oncoming traffic when turning left; to drivers on a road you enter from a driveway or private road; and to drivers already on a highway when you are on the entrance or acceleration ramp.
Speed
The posted limit is the maximum under ideal conditions; never exceed it, and you are responsible for a safe speed. Driving at the same speed as most traffic, up to the limit, is safest, because driving slower invites constant passing. Speeding cuts your ability to see and react to hazards, handle curves and obstacles and stop in time, makes others misjudge your distance, and multiplies crash forces. Maryland law requires a reasonable speed with awareness of hazards; you may drive below the limit but never above it. Slow down for sharp curves and hills, slippery roads, pedestrians and animals, shopping centers, parking lots and downtowns, heavy traffic, narrow bridges and tunnels, toll plazas, schools, playgrounds and residential streets, and railroad grade crossings.
Following and stopping distance
Most rear-end crashes come from following too closely. The MVA recommends at least 3 to 4 seconds in ideal conditions: as the car ahead passes a reference point such as a bridge, sign or mile marker, count "1 one thousand, 2 one thousand, 3 one thousand," and if you reach 3 before your car gets there you are at least 3 seconds back. Behind vehicles that stop often, such as buses and delivery vans, allow 4 or 5 seconds or more. Stopping distance depends on how long you take to notice danger, the type and condition of the road, your tire tread and your brakes.
Lanes, turning and U-turns
Drive in a single lane, change lanes only when safe, never drift across lines or change lanes inside an intersection, and keep right of the center except when passing a vehicle going your way, when a sign or signal allows otherwise, or when something in the road forces a safe change of position. Where "stay right" signs are posted, use the right lane or lanes unless passing. To turn, look for signs and signals that govern the turn, plan it before the turning point, signal ahead of time, look ahead, behind and to both sides, and adjust your speed. U-turns are dangerous and not legal everywhere: check that they are allowed, signal left, stop and yield to oncoming traffic, and when clear turn into the outside or right-hand lane of the opposite direction.
Passing
When passing is allowed, estimate the time and space you need without interfering with anyone, signal, go around at a safe distance, and return only when you see both headlights of the passed vehicle in your rearview mirror. Pass on the left; you may pass on the right, staying on the road, when the other vehicle is about to turn left, on an unobstructed road with two or more lanes your direction (no medians, signs or other obstacles), or on an unobstructed one-way road with two or more lanes. When passed, yield and never speed up. You may not pass in a no-passing zone, where a solid yellow line is on your side, across double solid yellow lines, when passing would interfere with other vehicles, when approaching a hilltop or curve without a clear view, when your view is obstructed within 100 feet of a bridge, elevated road or tunnel, when crossing or within 100 feet of an intersection or railroad grade crossing, or on the shoulder, right or left.
Parking
You are responsible for a parked vehicle not becoming a hazard. Park only in areas meant for parking, as far from traffic as possible and close to the curb, set the parking brake, leave a manual in gear or an automatic in park, check mirrors and traffic before opening the door and close it quickly, and take your keys and lock the doors.
Practise this with Maryland Driver License questions
More of this guide
The 20/40 and 140-degree vision standards, the 25-question, 20-minute knowledge test, skills test vehicle and supervising driver rules, reportable medical conditions, required documents, Type 1 and Type 2 permits, the 15 years 9 months age, co-signers, driver education, the 60-hour and 14-hour practice logs, the 45-day, 9-month and 3-month holding periods, the Provisional License and the 18-month path to a full license, out-of-country licenses, interpreters, the 21-year-old three-year supervising driver, organ donation at 18 or 16, Motor Voter, insurance cards and the $2,500 fine, seat belts, child seats to 8 or 4 feet 9 inches and rear-facing to 2, air bags and children under 13, ABS, headsets and the driving course maneuvers.
Who can override traffic control devices, dead signals, every vehicle signal from steady red and turns on red to flashing red arrows and lane use signals, crosswalk beacons, sign colors including fluorescent pink and black, sign shapes including the trapezoid and crossbuck, stop and yield signs, regulatory signs including HOV and two-way left lanes, warning signs, overhead, route, service and mile marker signs, every line marking from broken white to double solid yellow and dotted lines, stop and yield lines, SCHOOL and RxR markings, shared-use markings, crosswalks and bike lanes, with pictures of the signs.
The yellow-on-your-left rule, headlights at 1,000 feet and with wipers, low beams at 500 and 300 feet, night driving, fog, wet roads and pumping brakes without ABS, bridges that freeze first and black ice, snow emergency routes and the emergency kit, skid recovery, hydroplaning, railroad crossings and the vehicles that must stop, work zones and their amber, blue and green lights, traffic circle rules and exiting from the outside lane, interstate entering, exiting and stopping, funeral processions through red lights, and slow-moving vehicles at 25 mph.
The .08 limit and why any alcohol impairs, under-21 drinking, open containers including six-packs, drugs and medication warnings, doubled penalties with a child aboard, aggressive driving, distracted driving and the hand-held phone ban with no phones at all under 18, drowsy driving danger signs, pedestrian right-of-way and crosswalks, emergency vehicles and the move-over duty, trucks and their four no-zones, school buses and the 20-foot rule, motorcycles and the 3-to-4-second gap, bicycles as vehicles and the 3-foot law, mopeds on roads posted 50 mph or less, driver assistance systems, bicyclist equipment and electric bicycle classes.
What to do after a crash with and without injuries, leaving-the-scene penalties of 5 and 10 years, when the police must be called, unattended property and animals, finding a safe place after a breakdown and avoiding the ramp triangle, behavior during a traffic stop, Move Over fines of $110, $150 and $750 and their points, provisional restrictions including the 151-day passenger rule and midnight-to-5 a.m. curfew, implied consent, fake IDs, revocation, cancellation and suspension, provisional penalties for minors and adults, the 18-month clean period, and disability parking violations.