Road markings — New Jersey Permit Test
Road markings on the New Jersey permit test — 7 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
Road markings carry the same force of law as signs or traffic signals.
Paint on the road is a rule, not a suggestion, and crossing it is a violation.
Road markings have the same force of law as signs or traffic signals.
Yellow center lines separate traffic moving in opposite directions.
Yellow beside you means somebody is coming the other way on the far side of it.
Separate traffic flow going in opposite directions.
White lines separate traffic going the same way and show the edges of roads.
White beside you means the car in the next lane is heading where you are heading.
White lines Separate traffic going the same way when there is more than one lane; show edges of roads.
Where the solid yellow line is on the driver's own side of the road, passing is prohibited.
Which side the solid line is on is the whole message. It is written for one direction at a time.
Yellow solid and dashed lines Control passing. If the solid yellow line is on the motorist’s side of the road, do not pass.
Edge lines separate the shoulder from the travel lane and show where the highway ends.
At night in rain the edge line is often the last part of the road a driver can see.
Edge lines Separate the shoulder from the travel lane and show the edges of highways
White stop lines show where to stop at a stop sign or a traffic signal.
Stopping on the line leaves the crossing clear for the traffic that is turning through it.
White stop lines Show where to stop at stop signs or traffic signals.
White diamonds painted on a lane mark it as a high occupancy vehicle lane.
The lane is reserved, and the posted signs beside it say for whom and at what hours.
White diamonds Indicate high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes reserved for a particular vehicle type or vehicles carrying multiple riders, as identified by posted regulatory signs.
On the test
How much authority does a road marking carry?
The same as a sign or a signal. Paint on the road is a rule, not a suggestion, and crossing it is a violation. New Jersey Driver Manual, p.216: “Road markings have the same force of law as signs or traffic signals.”
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
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Where these come from
Every rule here is checked against New Jersey Driver Manual, published by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-15.