U turns — Virginia Permit Test
U turns on the Virginia permit test — 4 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
U-turns are not legal everywhere. Before making one, check for a No U-Turn or No Left Turn sign.
A U-turn is banned where the road bends or crests, which is exactly where you cannot see the car that would hit you.
In business districts, cities and towns, U-turns are allowed only at intersections.
An intersection is the one place where traffic is already slowing and watching for cars crossing its path.
Never make a U-turn on a highway.
Traffic arrives too fast to stop for a car turning sideways across every lane at once.
When making a U-turn, signal left, stop, and yield to approaching traffic. When the way is clear, go into the right hand lane of the opposite direction.
Ending the turn in the near lane keeps you out of the path of anyone already traveling in the far one.
On the test
What should a driver check before making a U-turn?
Signs that forbid the turn there. A U-turn is banned where the road bends or crests, which is exactly where you cannot see the car that would hit 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/