Montana · Handbook chapter 6 · 3 min read

Chapter 6: Sharing the road with bicycles, animals and slow vehicles

Montana rules for passing bicyclists, sharrows, bicycle equipment, horses and livestock, slow-moving vehicles, motorcycles, large trucks and other road users who need extra room.

Why this chapter matters

Montana roads carry cyclists, tractors, cattle and horses as well as cars. Each needs a different kind of space, and rural highways leave little room for mistakes.

Bicyclists

• Bicycles are vehicles with the same rights and duties as other traffic.
• On a high-speed two-lane road, treat a cyclist like any slow vehicle. If no traffic is coming, cross the center line and give about five feet; if traffic is coming, slow to the cyclist's speed and wait.
• Cyclists ride as far right as practical, which may be 18 to 24 inches into the lane to avoid a dangerous in-lane pass or an opening car door.
• Cyclists ride single file, except on bike paths, when passing another bicycle, on a paved shoulder or parking lane, or in one lane of a road with at least two lanes each way if they do not slow traffic more than single file would.
• Yield to a cyclist in a bicycle lane, and check for cyclists before a right turn.
• Sharrows (two arrows over a bicycle) show where cyclists should ride in a shared lane; give them room.
• Never honk, yell or swerve at a cyclist.

Bicycle equipment

At night a bicycle needs a white front light visible for 500 feet, rear reflectors (a red rear light is optional) and reflectors or reflective sidewalls on the wheels, plus a brake that can skid the wheels on dry pavement.

Slow-moving vehicles

• Farm tractors, animal-drawn vehicles and road machinery usually travel 25 mph or less and carry the orange triangle emblem.
• They must drive in the far right lane and turn off where there is room when four or more vehicles are held up behind them.
• Rural mail carriers also display the emblem. Be sure passing is safe before you pull out.

Animals and horses

• Always give the right-of-way to an animal being led, ridden or driven.
• Slow down, stop if the animal is coming toward you or crossing, and do not honk or make loud noise.
• Using your horn as you come up on or pass a horse is illegal.
• Horseback riders follow the rules of the road and ride single file near the right edge.

Motorcycles and large vehicles

• Leave a four-second gap behind a motorcycle: if it falls, you need room to avoid the rider.
• Turn signals on motorcycles often do not cancel by themselves; wait until the rider actually turns.
• Trucks and buses have large blind spots. Never stay alongside them, and get through their blind spot quickly when you pass.

Other road users who need room

• People who cannot see you: drivers backing out, drivers with snowy or fogged windows, pedestrians with umbrellas.
• People who are distracted: delivery workers, construction crews, children, drivers on phones.
• People who may be confused: tourists and drivers looking for house numbers.