You're driving on an Oregon two-lane road in a no-passing zone. Are there ANY circumstances in which you may legally cross the center line?
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A.
Yes: to pass a slow vehicle if oncoming traffic is more than 500 feet away.
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B.
Yes: when the right side of the road is blocked or when turning left. Correct
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C.
Yes: only on roads outside city limits.
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D.
No: the center line cannot be crossed in a no-passing zone for any reason.
The answer is "Yes: when the right side of the road is blocked or when turning left."
Yes. Even in a no-passing zone, you may cross the center line in two cases: (1) when the right side of the road is blocked (an obstruction, a fallen tree, a stopped vehicle in your lane), or (2) when you are turning left into a driveway or side road. The no-passing zone restricts overtaking, not maneuvering for obstructions or making turns. Drivers who land on D read the no-passing rule as absolute and skip past the two carve-outs the manual spells out.
The traps in the wrong answers
A. Yes: to pass a slow vehicle if oncoming traffic is more than 500 feet away.
There is no distance test that converts a no-passing zone into a passing zone. This answer invents a 500-foot distance test for oncoming traffic; the manual lists only two exceptions and neither involves a distance to oncoming vehicles.
C. Yes: only on roads outside city limits.
The rule isn't tied to city limits. This answer invents a city-limits carve-out; the manual's two exceptions apply regardless of whether the no-passing zone is inside or outside a city.
D. No: the center line cannot be crossed in a no-passing zone for any reason.
Two exceptions are explicitly written into the rule. This answer treats the no-passing rule as absolute, ignoring the two exceptions the manual spells out (right side blocked, or turning left).
This question tests your knowledge of Passing in Oregon. Source: Oregon Driver Manual, "No Passing," p.32..
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