On a three-lane highway with two-way traffic, and setting aside the left-turn exception, where does the manual say you may pass?
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A.
Slip past on the right whenever a vehicle in the center lane is moving slower than you.
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B.
The left lane, as you would on a two-lane road.
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C.
Only the center lane, and only where it is marked for your direction. Correct
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D.
Any lane, as long as oncoming traffic is clear.
The answer is "Only the center lane, and only where it is marked for your direction."
On a three-lane, two-way highway the manual limits passing to the center lane, and only where the center lane is marked for passing in your direction. The trap in B is defaulting to the two-lane habit of always moving left to pass.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Slip past on the right whenever a vehicle in the center lane is moving slower than you.
Slow traffic in the middle is not the listed exception; the manual's three-lane carve-out applies only when the vehicle in the center lane is making a left turn. Borrowing the multi-lane freeway habit of passing a slow driver on the right.
B. The left lane, as you would on a two-lane road.
This mixes up the three-lane, two-way rule with the practice on a two-lane road; on a three-lane, two-way highway the manual points you to the center lane where it is marked for your direction. Applying the reflex of pulling into the leftmost lane for every pass.
D. Any lane, as long as oncoming traffic is clear.
A clear oncoming side does not authorize any lane. On a three-lane, two-way road, passing is limited to the center lane where it is marked for your direction. Carrying over the rural two-lane instinct that a clear oncoming lane is by itself permission to pull out and pass.
This question tests your knowledge of Passing in North Carolina. Source: North Carolina Driver Handbook, "Passing on the right," p.55..
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