General Driving: Turns, Turnabouts, Intersections, Roundabouts, School Buses, Parking, Lane Changes, Highways, Passing and the Zipper Merge: Searching the Corners, Right and Left Turn Positions, Reverse and Forward Two-Point Turnabouts, the Three-Point Turnabout, Left-Right-Left at Intersections, Never Trusting a Turn Signal, the Diverging Diamond and the RCUT, Counterclockwise Roundabouts, When You Must Stop for a School Bus and When You Need Not, Disability Spaces, 18 Inches From the Curb, Angle, Perpendicular and Parallel Parking, Hills, Acceleration and Deceleration Lanes, Passing Steps and Bans, Being Passed and the Late Merge

Written for aiforu2 as the source for a practice-test bank and the on-device tutor for the South Carolina beginner's permit knowledge test. The facts follow the official manual; the wording is ours.

Source: South Carolina Driver's Manual (SCDMV, AAMVA-based, March 2026 file), Section 7 "General Driving" (pages 7-1 to 7-18).

Turning

When turning, search every corner for traffic controls, pedestrians and vehicles and signal, enter and hold the lane nearest the direction of your turn, look through the turn to the farthest point on your path, accelerate smoothly, cancel the signal and watch traffic behind. Turn right from the right-most part of your lane without swinging wide to the left first; turn left from the left-most part of your lane, yielding to oncoming traffic. With multiple turn lanes, pick and enter your lane and stay in it through the turn.

Turnabouts

A two-point turnabout uses a street, alley or driveway to reverse direction when going around the block is impractical. In the reverse version, signal right, stop, check traffic to the sides and rear, back until the rear bumper reaches the driveway's near edge, steer fully right while backing slowly, straighten and stop centered in the driveway, then shift to drive, check both ways, signal and turn left into the proper lane. In the forward version, signal left, move near the center, turn into the driveway as near its left side as possible, stop when the rear clears the curb, check all directions, signal right, shift to reverse, back slowly while steering fully right, straighten and stop centered in the nearest lane, shift to drive, cancel the signal and go. A three-point turnabout is only for a quiet two-lane road too narrow for a U-turn with no way around the block; on a busy street circle the block instead. It must be done without hitting the curb, leaving the road or using a side street: signal right and stop at the right edge; signal left, check traffic and the left blind spot, turn hard left to the other side and stop; in reverse, check both blind spots over your shoulders rather than the mirror alone, turn hard right to the other side and stop; in drive, check again, turn hard left into the right lane of the new direction, and confirm the signal cancels.

Intersections

At every intersection slow down and search for traffic controls, oncoming and cross traffic, pedestrians and bicyclists, the road condition and areas of limited visibility. Do not rely on others to obey signs and signals; some will not yield, and you can only control your own driving. After stopping, take extra time to check for crossing traffic and bicyclists, always looking left, right and left again, and when a light turns green do not lunge forward; make sure the path is clear and the gap is big enough to cross or turn and get up to speed. Never assume another driver will share or give you space, and never turn in front of a vehicle just because its signal is on; the driver may plan to turn after passing you or may have forgotten to cancel it.

Diverging diamonds, RCUTs and roundabouts

A diverging diamond interchange uses directional crossovers on each side so left-turning vehicles never cross approaching through traffic; cross-street traffic shifts to the left side between the signalized crossovers, turning onto and off the ramps without conflict, which improves turning operations and sharply reduces conflict points and their severity. A restricted crossing U-turn (RCUT) intersection removes the left and through movements from the side street: drivers turn right onto the main road and make a U-turn at a one-way median opening, controlled by a signal, stop, merge or yield sign, again reducing conflict points. A roundabout or traffic circle carries vehicles counterclockwise around a raised center island with entering traffic yielding to circulating traffic: slow down at the warning sign, yield to traffic in the circle, enter counterclockwise, proceed to your exit, signal and exit. Roundabouts are safer because they eliminate head-on and high-speed right-angle collisions.

School buses

You must stop for the whole time a school bus is stopped or preparing to stop with its red or amber lights flashing or its stop arm out, and go slowly afterward watching for children, whether meeting the bus or following it: on any two-lane highway, on a four-lane or multi-lane highway when you are behind the bus, and whenever you would otherwise pass a bus with red or amber lights flashing. You need not stop when the bus is in a loading zone completely off the travel lanes where pedestrians may not cross the road, or when you are meeting it from the opposite direction on a multi-lane highway or private road, meaning four lanes with at least two in each direction. Behind the bus you always stop and may not proceed until it moves or the red lights stop flashing.

Parking

A parked vehicle must not obstruct. Vehicles with a disability plate or placard may use disability spaces only when driven by or carrying the person named on the registration. Park in designated areas, as far from traffic as possible, and no more than 18 inches from the curb or pavement edge; check signs and painted curbs for no-parking zones. To enter an angle or perpendicular space, identify it, check traffic, signal, move forward slowly turning as needed until centered, pull to the front and secure the vehicle; to leave, check all directions, back straight until your front bumper clears the neighboring vehicle, turn the wheel sharply toward where the rear should go, stop and shift to drive once clear, then straighten. To parallel park, identify the space, check traffic and signal; when clear, shift to reverse and look back; back slowly while turning the wheel rapidly until your front bumper lines up with the rear bumper of the car ahead; back slowly turning rapidly the other way to center the car; stop before touching the car behind, shift to drive and adjust, no more than 18 inches from the curb. To leave a parallel space, back up as far as possible toward the car behind, signal, check mirrors and over your shoulder, move forward slowly steering into the lane, make sure your front bumper clears the car ahead, and enter the lane once your door clears its rear bumper. On hills: headed downhill, with or without a curb, turn the wheels right (toward the curb), except when parked on the left of a one-way street; headed uphill with a curb, turn the wheels toward the center of the street with the back of the front tire against the curb; uphill without a curb, turn the wheels right so the car rolls off the road. Set the parking brake, use park or the proper gear (first or reverse in a manual), turn off the engine, and when leaving signal, check mirrors and over your shoulder, and yield.

Lane changes, highways and passing

To change lanes, check the mirrors, then the blind spots by turning your head and looking over your shoulder toward the new lane, find a gap, signal, look again, adjust speed and steer over. Enter a multi-lane highway by using the acceleration lane beside the roadway to reach traffic speed, find a gap, merge and cancel the signal. To exit, move early to the lane nearest the exit, keep your speed while on the main roadway, signal, move into the deceleration lane on the right before the ramp, check the posted speed and slow accordingly. On multi-lane roads the left-most lane is for passing slower vehicles; never pass on the shoulder, paved or not, which is an emergency stopping lane. Pass as quickly and safely as possible, since time alongside another vehicle is time in its blind spot. Check for oncoming traffic, check mirrors and over your shoulder for vehicles following or passing, signal at least 100 feet before, steer smoothly into the passing lane, adjust speed, continue until the entire front of the passed vehicle shows in your mirror, signal, check over your shoulder and return smoothly. When being passed, stay in your lane, hold a constant speed and stay alert for the other driver's mistakes. Do not pass when an oncoming vehicle is approaching, when a curve or hill blocks your view, at intersections, or before a railroad crossing or bridge. Slow down when passing a bicyclist, give as much space as possible and allow for the rider's speed.

The zipper merge

The zipper merge replaces early merging, which causes sudden lane switching, collisions and road rage. When a "lane closed ahead" sign appears and traffic backs up, stay in your lane to the merge point and take turns easing into the open lane; in heavy, slow traffic it is much safer to stay in your lane until drivers can alternate. The law does not require it, but it is best practice, especially at a construction closure: it evens out lane speeds, shortens backups by up to 40 percent, cuts interstate congestion, feels fair and reduces road rage. When traffic is at highway speed with no backup, merge early into the lane that stays open; the rule is to merge when it is safe.

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