Pavement line colors — Iowa Permit Test
Pavement line colors on the Iowa permit test — 4 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
White lines separate traffic moving in the same direction.
Knowing the line color tells you whether cars beside you go your way or come toward you.
White lines separate traffic moving in the same direction.
Yellow lines separate traffic moving in opposite directions.
If you cross a yellow line, you are on the side where cars come at you head on.
Yellow lines separate traffic moving in opposite directions.
Where a solid yellow line runs beside a dashed line, passing is not allowed from the side with the solid line.
The solid line is on the side where you cannot see far enough ahead to pass safely.
Passing is not allowed on the side with the solid yellow line.
Vehicles on the side of the dashed line may pass when it is safe to do so.
A dashed line on your side means the road ahead is open enough to pass. You still must check for oncoming cars.
Vehicles on the side with the dashed line may pass when safe to do so.
On the test
What do white lane lines separate?
Traffic moving in the same direction. Knowing the line color tells you whether cars beside you go your way or come toward you. Iowa Driver's License Manual, p.15: “White lines separate traffic moving in the same direction.”
How this works
Most practice tests hand you a bank of questions and leave the manual somewhere else. This one puts them together.
You read one law and the reason behind it, then answer a question on that law while it is still fresh. Get it right and you move on; get it wrong and you have found the gap while it is cheap to fix, not on the morning of the exam.
Learning one rule at a time, and proving it immediately, is what turns a manual you skimmed into something you actually know — and it makes studying feel like getting somewhere rather than like waiting to find out.
What it costs
- One payment, once — not a subscription. Nothing renews and there is nothing to cancel, for an exam you sit one time.
- Free to start: a 10-question test and the first section of cards. No sign-up and no account.
- Paying opens the rest of the cards, unlimited full-length practice tests, and retests built from exactly the questions you got wrong.
- Every level up to Prepared — 3 tests passed in a row.
- Do the work, fail the real exam, and we refund you.
Where these come from
Every rule here is checked against Iowa Driver's License Manual, published by the Iowa Department of Transportation, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-10-04.
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/IA.pdf (Iowa Driver's License Manual, edition M1170 07/23/2026, Iowa Department of Transportation, retrieved 2026-09-14; sha256 pinned in SOURCES.json)
- src/assets/drivers-manuals/IA.pages.txt (the plain pdftotext fixture every citation here was cut from and verified against; sha256 pinned in SOURCES.json)
- https://iowadot.gov/drivers-licenses-ids/driver-education/manuals-practice-tests/drivers-manual
- https://iowadot.gov/drivers-licenses-ids/driver-education/online-permit-test-skip-trip (read 2026-10-04; states no count or mark)
- https://iowadot.gov/drivers-licenses-ids/get-or-renew-drivers-licenses-ids-permits/under-18-permit-license-or-id/instruction-permit-under-age-18 (read 2026-10-04; states no count or mark)
- https://iowadot.gov/drivers-licenses-ids/driver-education/manuals-practice-tests/take-practice-test (read 2026-10-04; its 25 questions and 80% describe the practice test and are not used)
- https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/iac/chapter/761.604.pdf (IAC 10/1/25; 761-604.9(1): "will declare the minimum passing score for each test")
- docs/plans/iowa-exam-shape.md (every official source checked for the exam's shape, and what each gave)