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North Carolina driving lesson · Basic Driving Skills & Rules

Passing & being passed

A 3-minute lesson from the North Carolina course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.

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Read time
3 minutes
Course unit
Basic Driving Skills & Rules
Checkpoint questions
6
Source pages
19, 29

Passing puts you in the lane of oncoming traffic, so you must see far enough ahead to get back before you meet anyone. NC has specific steps, forbidden places and duties for the driver being passed.

Steps to pass:

  • 1. Look ahead and behind to decide when it's safe
  • 2. Signal to alert drivers ahead and behind
  • 3. Sound the horn to signal the driver ahead
  • Keep a steady speed with plenty of room
Handbook p. 29 ↗

Know the rule

Your horn signal legally obligates the driver you're passing to help you pass.

Handbook p. 29 ↗
2 feet

Minimum distance to the left of the vehicle you're passing

Handbook p. 29 ↗

Know the rule

You haven't passed safely if the vehicle you passed must slow down to let you back into your lane.

Handbook p. 29 ↗

Passing is always unsafe and usually illegal:

  • At intersections in cities and towns, or at railroad crossings
  • At marked intersections in rural areas
  • On any curve or hill where you can't see at least 500 feet ahead
  • Where there's a solid yellow line in your lane, or a double-solid yellow line
  • At intersections or crosswalks where a vehicle stopped for people crossing
  • Wherever you can't see the road is clear far enough ahead
Handbook p. 29 ↗

Know the rule

Passing on the right is illegal except where specifically permitted. It puts you on the other driver's blind side, where they might turn right or pull over.

Handbook p. 29 ↗

Passing on the right is allowed:

  • On highways with at least two lanes in each direction
  • On one-way streets where all lanes go the same way
  • When passing a vehicle in the left-turn lane
  • When driving in a lane set aside for right turns
Handbook p. 29 ↗

Know the rule

On three-lane highways, pass only in the center lane, and only where it's marked for passing in your direction, unless the center-lane vehicle is turning left.

Handbook p. 29 ↗

Know the rule

When being passed, you must help: if the passing driver sounds the horn, move to the right edge of the road and never speed up.

Handbook p. 29 ↗

Know the rule

Speeding up and failing to give way to a passing vehicle is a misdemeanor if a crash with injury or property damage results.

Handbook p. 29 ↗
4 points

Illegal passing (regular license)

Handbook p. 19 ↗

Put it into practice

On a two-lane road you want to pass a slow car just before a hill crest. Wait: you can't see 500 feet ahead, so passing there is unsafe and usually illegal. Pass only once you can see the road is clear.

Check your understanding

Read the question, decide on an answer, then open it to check the explanation. These are Roadwise study questions based on the source handbook.

How far to the left of a vehicle must you be when legally passing it?
  1. At least one foot
  2. At least five feet
  3. At least two feet
  4. There is no minimum distance

Answer: At least two feet

The law requires the passing driver to pass at least two feet to the left of the vehicle being passed.

Handbook p. 29 ↗
Passing is unsafe and usually illegal on a curve or hill where you cannot see how far ahead?
  1. At least 100 feet
  2. At least 1,000 feet
  3. At least 200 feet
  4. At least 500 feet

Answer: At least 500 feet

Passing on any curve or hill where you cannot see at least 500 feet ahead is unsafe and usually illegal.

Handbook p. 29 ↗
Where is passing always prohibited by pavement marking?
  1. Wherever there is a double-solid yellow line
  2. Wherever there is a single dashed white line
  3. Wherever there is a solid white edge line
  4. Wherever there is a yellow dashed center line

Answer: Wherever there is a double-solid yellow line

Wherever there is a double-solid yellow line, passing is not permitted in either direction.

Handbook p. 29 ↗
On a three-lane highway, where may you pass, and under what condition?
  1. In any lane, at any time
  2. Only in the rightmost lane
  3. The center lane, if marked for you
  4. Only if the vehicle ahead is stopped

Answer: The center lane, if marked for you

On three-lane highways, you must not pass except in the center lane, and only where it is marked for passing your direction.

Handbook p. 29 ↗
What must you do if you are being passed and the passing driver sounds their horn?
  1. Move right; don't speed up
  2. Speed up to prevent them from passing
  3. Move to the left edge of the road
  4. Brake sharply

Answer: Move right; don't speed up

If the driver of the passing vehicle blows the horn, move to the right edge of the road and never increase your speed.

Handbook p. 29 ↗
Passing is always unsafe and usually illegal at which of these locations?
  1. On a straight, level highway with clear sight lines
  2. At marked intersections in rural areas
  3. On a one-way street with multiple lanes
  4. In the center lane of a marked three-lane highway

Answer: At marked intersections in rural areas

Passing is always unsafe and usually illegal at marked intersections in rural areas, among other listed locations.

Handbook p. 29 ↗
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