Pavement markings white — Virginia Permit Test
Pavement markings white on the Virginia permit test — 8 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
Broken white lines separate lanes of traffic going the same way. You may change lanes across them with caution.
White between lanes means nothing is coming at you, so the only thing to check before moving over is what is beside you.
Solid white lines mark turn lanes and discourage lane changes near intersections and ramps. A solid white line also marks the right edge of the pavement.
The line is placed where a lane change would cross the path of somebody merging, which is why it turns solid just there.
Double solid white lines separate lanes going the same way, often a special use lane from ordinary lanes. You may not cross them.
These lanes run at a different speed from the ones beside them, so crossing at the wrong place puts you in front of much faster traffic.
Dotted white lines guide lanes through intersections and interchanges, where drivers might otherwise drift out of the lane they are meant to be in.
Wide crossings have no lane lines through the middle, so a driver turning across one has nothing to steer by without these.
A curved white arrow painted in a lane, alone or with the word ONLY, means you must turn the way the arrow points.
The arrow is painted where a driver still has room to change lanes, and ignoring it leaves you turning across somebody going straight.
Wrong-way arrows painted on the road show that traffic moves only the way they point. If you are driving against them, slow down and pull over.
These arrows are painted at ramps where a driver can turn in against the flow, and they face the person making the mistake.
A yield line is a row of triangles across the road. It shows the point at which you must yield, or stop if stopping is necessary.
The line marks the last place with a view of the traffic you have to yield to, often at the entry to a circular intersection.
Many two-lane roads in Virginia have no lane markings. On an unmarked two-lane road you may pass a slow vehicle on the left if no sign forbids it and the way is clear.
No marking is not the same as no passing, but it also means nobody has measured whether you can see far enough.
On the test
What do broken white lines between lanes allow?
Changing lanes, done with due caution. White between lanes means nothing is coming at you, so the only thing to check before moving over is what is beside you.
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.
Where these come from
Every rule here is checked against Virginia Driver’s Manual, published by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-02.
- https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/licenses-ids/exams/know-exam
- https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/forms/dmv39.pdf
- https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/documents/dmv39i.pdf
- https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/licenses-ids/learners/apply
- https://www.dmv.virginia.gov/licenses-ids/learners/restrictions
- https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title46.2/section46.2-870/
- https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title46.2/section46.2-873/
- https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title46.2/section46.2-874/
- https://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/title46.2/section46.2-862/