Passing — West Virginia Permit Test
Passing on the West Virginia permit test — 8 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
Before passing, decide whether it is necessary: if you have to speed to pass, you probably do not need to pass.
A pass that needs speeding is a pass the road has not given you room for.
When passing, move left when clear and sound your horn to alert the driver ahead, and at night you may also blink your headlights to signal that you are about to pass.
The driver ahead cannot see you coming, and being seen is what keeps them from drifting into you.
Signal and return to the proper lane when you can see the front of the vehicle you passed, both its headlights, in your rear view mirror.
Seeing both headlights is the proof you have left that driver enough room.
Passing on the right is not permissible unless there is a lane designated for passing.
A driver being passed is watching the left; nobody looks for a car appearing on the other side.
You cannot pass safely unless you can see far enough ahead, can return to your lane before meeting oncoming traffic, and your vehicle can reach the speed the pass needs.
All three have to be true; any one missing turns the pass into a head-on.
Passing is prohibited on a curve or hill, or anywhere you cannot see oncoming traffic.
The road looks clear right up to the moment it is not.
Passing is prohibited within 100 feet of an intersection, and within 100 feet of a bridge, viaduct, tunnel, underpass or railroad crossing.
Each is a place where somebody may pull into the lane you are borrowing.
Passing is prohibited when a vehicle in front of you has stopped at an intersection to let somebody cross.
The stopped car is a wall, and the person walking out from behind it cannot see you either.
On the test
What does the handbook say about needing to speed in order to pass?
If you must speed, you probably need not pass. A pass that needs speeding is a pass the road has not given you room for.
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.
All West Virginia permit topics
Where these come from
Every rule here is checked against West Virginia Driver's Licensing Handbook, published by the West Virginia Department of Transportation, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-06.