Driver's License Test Prep
US Road Signs Road Markings

A center travel lane is bordered on each side by an outer solid yellow line and an inner broken yellow line. What is this lane used for?

On a dark roadway, four horizontal yellow lines run left to right: a solid line above a broken (dashed) line near the top, and a broken line above a solid line near the bottom, framing a center lane between the two broken lines.
  1. A.
    Left turns by traffic traveling in either direction. Correct
  2. B.
    Passing slower vehicles when the adjacent through lane is blocked.
  3. C.
    Left turns made only by oncoming traffic from the opposite direction.
  4. D.
    Through travel to bypass congestion in the adjacent lane.
The Why

The answer is "Left turns by traffic traveling in either direction."

A center lane bordered by outer solid and inner broken yellow lines is a two-way left-turn lane, used by traffic from both directions only to make left turns. The trap is the choice that treats the broken yellow line as a passing line; on a two-lane road a broken yellow line does permit passing, but here the broken line only marks where vehicles may cross into the lane to turn left, and passing inside the lane is not allowed.

Why the others miss

The traps in the wrong answers

B. Passing slower vehicles when the adjacent through lane is blocked.

The lane is reserved for left-turn movements, and passing within it is not permitted. This answer carries over the two-lane-road rule that a broken yellow line permits passing, ignoring that the broken line here only marks a crossing point into a turn lane.

C. Left turns made only by oncoming traffic from the opposite direction.

Traffic from both directions shares the lane, not only the oncoming side. This answer reads the center lane as a dedicated turn pocket serving one direction, the way single-direction left-turn bays work at intersections with traffic lights.

D. Through travel to bypass congestion in the adjacent lane.

Through travel within the lane is not permitted; it exists only for left turns. This answer treats the striped center lane as a general-purpose bypass because it looks like an extra travel lane sitting between the through lanes.

The Rule

This question tests your knowledge of Road Markings on the roads of every US state . Source: Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, marking 3B.05 (Two-Way Left-Turn Lane)..

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