Turning and backing — West Virginia Permit Test
Turning and backing on the West Virginia permit test — 7 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
A driver should always finish a turn in the proper lane.
A turn that ends in the wrong lane puts a vehicle head-on into traffic that had right of way.
A driver waiting to turn left should keep the front wheels straight rather than turned to the left.
If the vehicle is struck from behind with the wheels turned, it is pushed straight into oncoming traffic.
A driver should slow down before making a turn rather than braking during it.
Braking in the turn shifts the vehicle’s weight while the tires are already working to hold the curve.
Before entering a turning lane a driver should signal, check the mirrors, and glance over the proper shoulder at the blind spot.
The mirror leaves a vehicle-sized gap beside the car, and only a head check covers it.
Turning around is prohibited near a curve or the crest of a hill where a driver cannot be seen by traffic approaching within 500 feet.
A vehicle turning across the road is stationary and sideways, which is the worst thing to meet over a blind crest.
Before backing, a driver should check all around the vehicle, look to the front, sides and rear, and keep looking to the rear while reversing.
Mirrors and cameras leave a low blind zone right behind the bumper, which is where a small child stands.
A driver should never back across other traffic lanes or through an intersection.
Nobody approaching an intersection is looking for a vehicle traveling backwards through it.
On the test
Which lane should a turn finish in?
The nearest lane going that direction. A turn that ends in the wrong lane puts a vehicle head-on into traffic that had right of way.
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 Division of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-01.
- https://dmv.wv.gov/driver-services/drivers/drivers-licensing-handbooks
- https://webapps.transportation.wv.gov/TWS/DMV/Drivers_Licensing_Handbook.pdf
- https://dmv.wv.gov/graduated-drivers-licensing-gdl
- https://dmv.wv.gov/driver-services/drivers/sample-drivers-test
- https://code.wvlegislature.gov/17C-5-2/
- https://code.wvlegislature.gov/17C-6-1/
- https://code.wvlegislature.gov/17C-8-8/
- https://code.wvlegislature.gov/17C-12-2/
- https://code.wvlegislature.gov/17C-12-7/
- https://code.wvlegislature.gov/17C-13-3/
- https://code.wvlegislature.gov/17C-13-4/
- https://code.wvlegislature.gov/17C-14-9a/
- https://code.wvlegislature.gov/17C-14-15/
- https://code.wvlegislature.gov/17C-15-2/
- https://code.wvlegislature.gov/17C-15-46/
- https://code.wvlegislature.gov/17C-15-49/
- https://code.wvlegislature.gov/17B-2-3a/
- https://code.wvlegislature.gov/17C-4-6/