New Jersey Motorcycle Control and Following Distance Practice Test

What the New Jersey Driver Manual, Chapter 10: Motorcycle Manual says about control and following distance

• Shifting

  Shift so the engine speed matches the road speed; using gears wrongly while downshifting, turning or starting on a hill can make the motorcycle unstable. p. 179

• Downshifting

  Motorcycles pick up speed on a downgrade, and on many bikes first gear covers only a very low speed range, so use the brakes to slow enough to shift down safely. p. 180

• See, Be Seen, and Be Heard

  In crashes with motorcycles, other drivers often say they never saw the motorcycle; its small outline from ahead or behind makes distance and speed easy to misjudge. p. 180

• Positioning

  At the roadside, angle the motorcycle across the road so you can see both directions without straining, which matters most before a U-turn. p. 188

• Keep the Proper Distance

  Stay well behind the vehicle ahead even when stopped, so you can get out of the way if someone comes up fast from behind. p. 188

• Sharing Lanes

  Cars and motorcycles each need a full lane: don't ride between rows of stopped vehicles or squeeze past a stopped vehicle in your lane, where a hand, an opening door or a sudden turn could hit you. p. 190

Where it is in the New Jersey Driver Manual, Chapter 10: Motorcycle Manual

• p. 178–180Chapter 10 · Body position, turning, braking and shifting
• p. 188–191Chapter 10 · Following distance, passing and sharing lanes

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