Pavement markings — Ohio Permit Test
Pavement markings on the Ohio permit test — 5 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
White lines separate traffic traveling in the same direction, and may be solid or broken.
Color answers one question only: are those cars going your way.
WHITE LINES: Separates traffic traveling in the same direction.
A yellow line separates traffic traveling in opposite directions.
If the line beside you is yellow, the next lane over is coming at you.
YELLOW SOLID LINE: Separates traffic traveling in opposite directions.
A solid double yellow line means not driving to its left, except to turn left or to pass a slow-moving vehicle such as a bicycle or a vehicle displaying the slow-moving emblem.
The exceptions are narrow and both involve something that is barely moving.
YELLOW SOLID DOUBLE LINE: Do not drive to the left of the center line, unless you must cross the lines to turn left or pass a slow-moving vehicle (e.g., bicycle or vehicle displaying a slow-moving vehicle sign).
Where a solid yellow line runs beside a broken one, passing is allowed from the lane with the broken line and prohibited from the lane with the solid line.
Read the line on your own side; the other one is somebody else's instruction.
YELLOW SOLID LINE WITH A BROKEN (DASHED) LINE: Passing other vehicles is allowed for motorists traveling in the lane with the broken line.
A two-way left turn lane sits in the center of the road, marked by a broken yellow line inside a solid yellow line on each side and by white turn arrows, and it is for left turns only.
Traffic from both directions uses it, which is why it is not a lane to travel in.
A two-way left turn lane is marked with a broken yellow line and a solid yellow line on each side of the lane.
On the test
What does a white line on the roadway separate?
Traffic traveling in the same direction. Color answers one question only: are those cars going your way. Digest of Ohio Motor Vehicle Laws, p.20: “WHITE LINES: Separates traffic traveling 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.
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Where these come from
Every rule here is checked against Digest of Ohio Motor Vehicle Laws, published by the Ohio Department of Public Safety, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-14.