Passing on the right — New York Permit Test
Passing on the right on the New York permit test — 5 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
A driver can pass a vehicle on the right when the vehicle ahead makes a left turn.
The turning car has left the lane. Going around it on the right is the only way past.
When a vehicle ahead makes a left turn.
A driver can pass on the right on a two-way road marked for two or more lanes in each direction, or wide enough for them, where passing is not prohibited by signs or restricted by parked cars or other obstructions.
A second lane in your direction is a lane, not a pass. The room has to actually be there.
When you are on a two-way road that is marked for two or more lanes or is wide enough for two or more lanes in each direction and passing is not prohibited by signs or restricted by parked cars or other obstructions.
A driver can pass on the right on a one-way road marked for two or more lanes, or wide enough for them, where passing is not prohibited by signs or restricted by parked cars or other obstructions.
Parked cars can swallow the second lane. Then the room a driver counted on is gone.
When you drive on a one-way road that is marked for two or more lanes or is wide
A driver cannot drive on or across the shoulder or edge line of the road to pass, unless a sign allows it or a traffic officer indicates it.
The shoulder is where broken-down cars and cyclists sit. A pass there arrives on top of them.
You cannot drive on or across the shoulder or edge line of the road unless a sign allows it or when indicated by a traffic officer (see Chapter 4).
A driver preparing to pass on the right at an intersection should check the traffic ahead carefully and make sure an approaching vehicle is not preparing to turn left into their path.
A car turning left across the corner aims at the lane you are passing in.
Make sure a vehicle that is approaching is not prepared to turn left into your path, and watch at the right side of the road for pedestrians, bicyclists, in-line skaters and moped riders.
On the test
When may a driver pass a vehicle on the right?
When it is making a left turn. The turning car has left the lane. Going around it on the right is the only way past. New York State Driver's Manual, p.39: “When a vehicle ahead makes a left turn.”
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 New York State Driver's Manual, published by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-15.