Pavement markings — North Carolina Permit Test

Yellow lines separate travel lanes moving in opposite directions, and white lines separate lanes moving in the same direction.

The color tells you what is on the other side of the line: oncoming traffic across yellow, your own direction across white.

Yellow lines separate travel lanes moving in opposite directions. White lines separate travel lanes moving in the same direction.

On a two-lane road, a broken yellow center line means passing with care is permitted in both directions, and passing is permitted if the broken yellow line is in your lane.

The gaps in the line are the permission. Where the line is solid on your side, the road ahead is hidden and the permission is gone.

A yellow skipped or broken line is used as the center line on a two-lane, two-way road where passing with care is permitted in both directions.

When the center line is a double solid yellow line, you cannot cross it to pass in either direction.

Two solid lines mean the road ahead is hidden from both sides. Nobody can see far enough to pass.

When continuous, double, solid, yellow lines are the center lines, you cannot cross them to pass in either direction.

Single solid white lines mark the right edge of the road and guide traffic going the same way; single solid yellow lines mark the left edge on divided highways, and if you see the reverse you are going the wrong way.

On a divided highway the yellow line belongs on your left, next to the median. Yellow on the right means you are facing the traffic.

Single, solid, yellow lines are used as left-edge lines on divided highways. If you see the reverse, you are traveling in the wrong direction.

A two-way left-turn lane in the center of a multi-lane highway is reserved for left turns in both directions; it must not be used for passing or for merging into traffic.

The center lane is shared by turners from both directions. A car using it to pass meets one of them head-on.

The two-way left-turn lane must not be used for passing another vehicle or for the purpose of merging into traffic.

Reflective pavement markers improve the visibility of lines at night in the wet; red markers indicate wrong-way movements, and blue markers show the location of fire hydrants or water supplies.

The markers face one way. If they show red to you, you are driving against the direction they were set for.

Red markers indicate wrong-way movements for motorists.

Blue reflective pavement markers indicate the location of nearby fire hydrants or water supplies for fire-fighting units.

A fire crew arriving at night finds the hydrant by the blue marker in the road. It is there for them, not for you.

In some areas, blue reflective pavement markers on roadways indicate the location of nearby fire hydrants or water supplies for fire-fighting units.

What do yellow lines on the pavement separate?

Lanes of traffic moving in opposite directions. The color tells you what is on the other side of the line: oncoming traffic across yellow, your own direction across white. North Carolina Driver Handbook, p.88: “Yellow lines separate travel lanes moving in opposite directions. White lines separate travel lanes moving in the same direction.”