Pavement markings — West Virginia Permit Test
Pavement markings on the West Virginia permit test — 10 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
White lines separate lanes moving in the same direction; yellow lines separate lanes moving in opposite directions.
The color tells you at a glance whether anything is coming the other way.
WHITE lines separate traffic lanes moving in the same direction. YELLOW lines separate traffic lanes moving in the opposite direction.
A broken yellow line on your side of the road means you may pass when it is safe.
A broken line is a gap you may cross; a solid one is not.
Broken Yellow - Broken yellow lines separate traffic moving in opposite directions. If this marking is on your side of the road you may pass when it is safe.
If a solid yellow line is on your side of the road you must not pass, and on interstates, one-way streets and divided four-lane roads a solid yellow line marks the left edge of the pavement.
The line marks road where nobody can see far enough ahead to pass safely.
If a solid yellow line is on your side of the road you MUST NOT PASS.
Where a road has more than one lane going one way, the lanes are separated by broken white lines: drive within them and never straddle them except when changing lanes.
A car straddling a line is in two lanes and in neither.
Drive within these lines and never straddle them except when changing lanes.
Solid white lines mark the edge of the pavement, and where they separate lanes going the same direction, you must not change lanes.
They go where a lane change is most likely to surprise somebody.
When solid white lines separate lanes of traffic moving in the same direction DO NOT CHANGE LANES.
White diamond shapes painted in the roadway show that the lane is set aside for car pools, bicycles or buses.
The lane only works if the vehicles in it are the ones it was built for.
Special Purpose or Diamond Lanes - White diamond shapes painted in the roadway to inform drivers the lane is designated for car pools bicycles or buses.
Center left-turn lanes are for left turns from either direction and are never to be used as through or passing lanes. They are marked by solid yellow lines nearest the through lanes and broken lines to the left of them.
Drivers coming the other way are waiting in the same lane you are.
Center Left-Turn Lanes - These lanes are reserved for left turns from either direction and are not to be used as through or passing lanes.
Reversible lanes are marked on both sides by a double broken yellow line, and this is the only case where a driver may drive for any distance to the left of a yellow line.
The lane you used this morning may be pointed at you this evening.
Lanes which reverse are marked on both sides by a double yellow broken line. This is the only case where a driver may drive for any distance to the left of a yellow line.
Wide white stop lines painted across a lane mark where you must stop at an intersection, which keeps you clear of people crossing and of cross traffic.
Stopping past the line puts your hood where somebody is walking.
Stop Lines - Wide white lines painted across traffic lanes mark where you must stop your vehicle at intersections.
Never block a crosswalk with your vehicle. Crosswalks are often marked by solid white lines running all the way across the pavement, and some, especially in residential areas, are not marked at all.
A blocked crossing sends somebody on foot out into the traffic lane to get around you.
DO NOT block a crosswalk with your car.
On the test
What do yellow lines separate?
Lanes moving in opposite directions. The color tells you at a glance whether anything is coming the other way. West Virginia Driver's Licensing Handbook, p.41: “WHITE lines separate traffic lanes moving in the same direction. YELLOW lines separate traffic lanes moving in the opposite 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 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.