5.3 Changing Lanes and Passing

5.3 Changing Lanes and Passing

Quick Answer: Change only one lane at a time. Give a proper signal before turning or changing lanes. Do not weave. On a highway, slower vehicles use the right lane; leave the left-hand lane for faster-moving or passing vehicles. Lane-change order: no traffic ahead in the target lane, mirrors for anyone passing you, head check of the blind spot and room, signal, then move smoothly. When passing, the passing lane must be clear because you must return to the right no less than 100 feet before any oncoming vehicle. Pass only after checking behind and left, signaling, moving left, and accelerating until you see the passed vehicle in the rearview mirror, then signal to return. Do not pass with solid yellow on the driver's side, with a yellow pennant No Passing Zone on the left or a white rectangular Do Not Pass on the right, on or approaching a curve, approaching the crest of a hill, or within 100 feet of an intersection, railroad crossing, bridge, viaduct, or tunnel. If you are being passed, allow the pass and do not increase speed.

Lane changes and passing are Chapter 7 maneuvers on the Indiana knowledge exam. They sit on top of the yellow-versus-white markings in the previous section. A broken yellow line is not a command to pass; it is permission to pass when the rest of the rules are also met. A legal-looking gap still fails if you are within 100 feet of a railroad or if an oncoming car is closer than the 100-foot return distance.

Weaving, skipping the head check, and accelerating while someone is passing you are the three habits that turn a legal maneuver into a sideswipe or a head-on crash.

One lane at a time, signal, no weaving, right lane slow

Change only one lane at a time. Crossing two lanes in one diagonal sweep hides you in two blind spots at once and cuts off two streams of traffic.

When you change lanes to prepare for a turn, you must give a proper signal before turning or changing lanes. Signaling is not optional because the street looks empty. The driver you did not see is why the signal exists.

Do not weave in and out of lanes. Weaving greatly increases your risk of an accident. Indiana's rule is not "keep up with aggressive traffic." It is stay in a lane, signal, move once, settle.

On the highway, slower vehicles should use the right lane. Leave the left-hand lane for faster-moving or passing vehicles. Camping in the left lane at 55 mph while traffic stacks behind you is the opposite of this rule. Move right when you are the slower vehicle.

Lane-change steps, in order

Follow these rules when you are changing lanes:

1. Make sure that there is no traffic ahead of you in the lane you would like to enter
2. Check your mirrors for any vehicles that are preparing to pass you
3. Briefly turn your head toward the lane that you are entering to make sure that there is no vehicle in your blind spot and that there is sufficient room to move into the adjacent lane
4. Use your turn signal to alert other drivers of your intention to change lanes
5. Smoothly move into the new driving lane

The head check is the step testers fail in the car and miss on the written exam. Mirrors do not show the blind spot. A motorcycle, a bicycle, or another car can sit exactly where the mirror is empty. Turn your head, then signal, then move. Do not signal-and-dive in one motion.

Smoothly matters. A sudden swerve that makes the driver behind you brake is not a completed lane change; it is the collision the yield-sign chapter described in different words — other traffic should not have to take emergency action because of you.

Passing other vehicles

Follow these rules when you are passing other vehicles:

1. Make sure the passing lane is clear of traffic, because you must return to the right side of the road no less than 100 feet before any oncoming vehicle
2. Check behind and to the left of your vehicle to make sure that another vehicle is not attempting to pass you
3. Use your turn signals to alert other drivers of your intention to change lanes
4. Move into the passing lane, accelerate, and continue to move forward until you can see the vehicle you are passing in your rearview mirror
5. Before returning to the lane in which you were originally driving, use the appropriate turn signal

No less than 100 feet is a number the exam likes. It is not 50 feet, not "when it looks close," and not "after the oncoming car flashes headlights." If you cannot get back to the right with at least 100 feet of space before the oncoming vehicle, you do not start the pass.

Seeing the passed vehicle in the rearview mirror is the cue that you have gone far enough ahead to return. Cutting back the instant your bumper clears theirs leaves no space and can run them off the road.

Signal both ways: left to enter the passing lane, then the appropriate signal to return right. Passing without signals is the same violation as an unsignaled lane change.

Prohibited passing

It is dangerous and illegal to try to pass other vehicles in the following situations:

Memorize the 100-foot list as a set: intersection, railroad crossing, bridge, viaduct, or tunnel. Dropping railroad, or substituting "only school zones," is a common wrong answer.

The pennant and the rectangular Do Not Pass sign work with solid yellow. Chapter 3 already taught that a pennant lives on the left of a two-way road. Here the passing rule adds the white Do Not Pass rectangle on the right. Either sign, or solid yellow on your side, is enough to make the pass illegal even if the road feels empty.

A curve or hill crest is prohibited even if the center line is broken. Sight distance, not just paint, can ban the pass. If you cannot see the oncoming lane clearly, you cannot promise the 100-foot return.

Being passed

If another vehicle is passing you on the left-hand side of the road, allow the other vehicle to pass safely and do not increase your speed.

Speeding up to "defend" your position turns a legal pass into a race and can trap the passer in the oncoming lane past the 100-foot point. Hold your speed or ease off slightly so the passer can return to the right. Do not drift left into the passing vehicle.

Putting markings and passing together

Broken yellow is permission only if none of the prohibited situations apply. Solid yellow on your side is a hard no, except the earlier marking exception that lets you cross solid yellow to turn, which is not a pass. Broken white is a same-direction lane change, not a pass into oncoming traffic. A center left-turn lane is never a passing lane — that rule from the previous section still applies on a five-lane commercial strip.

Highway passing in the left-hand lane still uses the lane-change steps. You still signal, still head-check, and still return right when you are no longer the passing or faster vehicle. The left lane is not a cruising lane for slower traffic.

Indiana scenarios

Two-lane SR 37, oncoming car in the distance. You want to pass a tractor. The passing lane looks open, but you cannot return to the right at least 100 feet before the oncoming vehicle. You do not start the pass.

Pennant on the left, Monroe County. A yellow No Passing Zone pennant appears on the left as the center line goes solid on your side. You do not swing left. A white Do Not Pass rectangle on the right would have given the same order.

Hill crest east of Richmond. The center line is broken, but you are approaching the crest of a grade. Passing is prohibited because you cannot see if someone is coming over the hill.

Within 100 feet of a railroad, rural county road. A slow pickup is ahead. Even with broken yellow, you are within 100 feet of the crossing. Passing is illegal. The same 100-foot ban applies at an intersection, bridge, viaduct, or tunnel.

Being passed on US 50. A car starts around you on the left. You hold your speed. Accelerating would force that driver to stay out longer and could erase the 100-foot return they still need before oncoming traffic.

I-69, slower traffic. You are traveling slower than the surrounding flow. You move to the right lane and leave the left-hand lane for faster-moving or passing vehicles. You change one lane at a time with a signal and a head check.

Common traps

• Changing two lanes at once or weaving through highway gaps
• Signaling after you have already started the move, or skipping the head check because the mirror looked empty
• Cruising in the left highway lane while slower than traffic on the right
• Returning to the right less than 100 feet before an oncoming vehicle
• Cutting back before you can see the passed vehicle in the rearview mirror
• Passing with solid yellow on the driver's side
• Missing the left-side pennant because you only scan the right shoulder, or ignoring the right-side Do Not Pass rectangle
• Passing on a curve or hill crest because the line is broken
• Passing within 100 feet of an intersection, railroad, bridge, viaduct, or tunnel
• Increasing speed when another vehicle is passing you
• Using a center left-turn lane as the passing lane you did not have on a two-lane road

Paint tells you whether a pass is even a candidate. The 100-foot return, the 100-foot buffer at listed features, sight distance on curves and crests, and the duty not to speed up when you are being passed decide whether that candidate is legal. If any one of those fails, stay right.