Solid and broken lines — Rhode Island Permit Test

Solid lines separate lanes of traffic, and drivers may not pass or change lanes across them.

Solid lines mark places where crossing is dangerous, such as near hills, curves and ramps.

Solid Lines: Solid lines separate lanes of traffic.

You may cross solid lines in an emergency, such as a breakdown, an object in the road, a turn or parking.

Without the exception, a driver would have to hit a box in the road rather than steer around it.

You may cross the solid lines in an emergency (turns, breakdown, object in road, parking, etc).

Broken lines let drivers pass other vehicles across yellow or white lines and change lanes across white ones.

Drivers who think every line is a wall get stuck behind slow tractors for miles.

Broken Lines: Broken lines separate lanes of traffic.

Where a solid line runs beside a broken line, drivers with the solid line on their side should not pass or cross it.

The solid line is on the side where the driver cannot see far enough ahead to pass.

Motorists with the solid line on their side of the roadway should not pass another vehicle nor cross the solid line.

Where a solid line runs beside a broken line, drivers with the broken line on their side may pass with care.

Knowing which side the broken line is on tells you whether your lane has room to pass.

Motorists with the broken line at the drivers’ side may pass another vehicle with care.

What may you not do across a solid lane line, outside an emergency?

Pass or change lanes. Solid lines mark places where crossing is dangerous, such as near hills, curves and ramps. Rhode Island Driver’s Manual, p.38: “Solid Lines: Solid lines separate lanes of traffic.”