In which of the following situations does North Carolina law allow you to pass another vehicle on the right?
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A.
On any two-lane road when the driver ahead is under the speed limit.
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B.
On a highway with at least two lanes traveling in each direction. Correct
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C.
On a narrow shoulder if the vehicle ahead is signaling a left turn late.
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D.
On any road after you sound your horn to alert the other driver.
The answer is "On a highway with at least two lanes traveling in each direction."
North Carolina permits passing on the right on highways with at least two lanes traveling in each direction, one of four listed exceptions (the others are one-way streets, a vehicle in a left-turn lane, and a lane set aside for right turns). Drivers who reach for choice A file "the leader is slow" as its own justification, a habit carried over from multi-lane freeway driving that the four-exception list does not sanction on an ordinary two-lane road.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. On any two-lane road when the driver ahead is under the speed limit.
Speed of the vehicle ahead is not one of the right-side exceptions the manual lists, and none of those exceptions cover an ordinary two-lane road. This answer treats a slow leader as blanket permission to pass on either side, borrowing highway lane-change habits and applying them to a two-lane road the four-exception list does not cover.
C. On a narrow shoulder if the vehicle ahead is signaling a left turn late.
The listed exception is for passing a vehicle that is in the left-turn lane; a driver who is only signaling is still in the travel lane, and passing on the shoulder is not one of the right-side exceptions the manual names. This answer reads a late left-turn signal as if the driver were already in a turn lane, then adds the shoulder as an escape route on a road where no legal passing space exists.
D. On any road after you sound your horn to alert the other driver.
Blowing the horn is part of the general passing steps and does not create a right-side exception. This answer confuses the horn's role as an obligation-shifter during a normal pass with a standalone authorization to pick whichever side seems convenient.
This question tests your knowledge of Passing in North Carolina. Source: North Carolina Driver Handbook, "Passing on the right," p.55..
Related North Carolina questions
- How far to the left of the vehicle you are passing does North Carolina law require you to pass? →
- A driver behind you sounds a horn to signal a pass. What does the manual require you to do? →
- You want to pass another vehicle on a hill or curve. What does the manual say you must have first? →
- On a three-lane highway with two-way traffic, and setting aside the left-turn exception, where does the manual say you may pass? →
- You return to your lane after passing another driver, and that driver has to brake to let you back in. What does the manual say about your pass? →
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