5.2 Lane Markings

5.2 Lane Markings

Quick Answer: Yellow separates traffic going in opposite directions. Cross a broken yellow line to pass when it is safe; do not cross a solid yellow line except to turn. White separates traffic going in the same direction. Cross a broken white line to change lanes when it is safe; do not cross a solid white line. A center left-turn lane is only for left turns and is never for passing, even if some locations have no CENTER LANE ONLY sign and no pavement arrows. Sharrows (a bike symbol with two arrows above it) help cyclists sit away from parked cars and warn you to expect bikes in the travel lane. Green pavement may mark bike lanes; red pavement may mark bus or transit lanes.

Lane markings separate traffic and alert drivers when it is permissible to pass other vehicles. On the Indiana knowledge exam this is Chapter 7 (Safe Vehicle Operation), and it is scored with the traffic maneuvers and rules component. Color answers who is coming toward you. Pattern — broken versus solid — answers whether you may cross.

If you reverse color, you will pass into oncoming traffic. If you reverse pattern, you will pass across a solid yellow no-passing line or drift over a solid white line that Indiana says you should not cross.

Yellow — opposite directions

Yellow lane markings separate multiple lanes of traffic going in opposite directions.

You may cross a broken yellow line to pass another vehicle when it is safe. You should not cross a solid yellow line except to turn.

That pair of sentences is the entire yellow skill, and it is enough to miss several exam items if you mix it with white.

Typical Indiana layouts:

On a two-lane state highway, the center line is often double in appearance: solid on one side and broken on the other, or solid on both. The line on your side is the one that controls you. A broken yellow on your side with a solid yellow on the oncoming side means you may pass when safe; they may not. Solid yellow on your side means you should not cross except to turn, even if the other direction looks broken.

Except to turn is the yellow exception. You may cross solid yellow to enter a left-turn pocket, a driveway, or a side road when that turn is legal. You may not use that exception as a fake passing lane.

White — same direction

White lane markings separate multiple lanes of traffic going in the same direction. Most roads with more than two lanes have broken white lines to separate those lanes.

You may cross a broken white line when it is safe to change lanes. You should not cross a solid white line.

White is not oncoming traffic. White is the car beside you on I-65, I-69, I-70, or a three-lane one-way street in Indianapolis. Crossing broken white is a lane change, not a pass into the opposing direction. Crossing solid white — for example a solid white edge at a gore, an exit-only channel, or a turn-only split — is the marking the manual says you should not cross.

The solid white stop line at an intersection is also a white marking. Chapter 6 already told you to stop at that line for a red light or stop sign. If there is no stop line, stop before the crosswalk; if there is no crosswalk, stop before the intersection. Do not roll the front bumper over the stop line and into the crosswalk while you wait.

Center left-turn lanes

Busy roads with many places a vehicle may turn left often have a center lane designated solely for left-turning vehicles.

Two duties, both testable:

1. Use that lane only to turn left.
2. Never use this type of center lane for passing other vehicles.

Always be aware that vehicles traveling in the opposite direction may be entering the same center lane to turn left in front of you. The lane is shared in time, not owned by your direction.

Designated center lanes for left turns can usually be identified by a sign with alternate directional arrows that states CENTER LANE ONLY, or with pavement arrows. Some center lanes do not have signs or pavement arrows. Missing paint does not convert the lane into a passing lane. If the geometry is a two-way left-turn lane, the rule is still left turns only.

Wait in the center lane only long enough to complete the left turn. Do not drive down the center lane for a block as if it were a travel lane, and do not use it to sneak around a slower car.

Sharrows

Sharrow markings are pavement markings of a bike with two arrows above it. They are intended to:

• Help cyclists position themselves away from parked cars
• Alert other road users to expect cyclists to occupy travel lanes

A sharrow is not a separate bike lane that cars must never enter. It is a shared-lane mark in the travel lane. Expect a bicycle in that lane, give the cyclist room, and do not squeeze the rider toward parked-car doors. Bicycle-lane driving and parking bans have more detail in the sharing-the-road chapter; the marking skill here is recognition: bike symbol plus two arrows = sharrow.

Green pavement and red pavement

Green colored pavement may be used to enhance the visibility of bike lanes. Red colored pavement may be used to enhance the visibility of bus or transit lanes designated for buses, taxis, or other modes of public transit.

Color on the pavement is not decoration. Green means look for bicycles and stay out of that lane except where later bicycle-lane rules allow a legal crossing. Red means look for buses or transit vehicles that own that lane. Do not treat red transit pavement as a general-purpose right-turn queue, and do not treat green bike pavement as a paved shoulder you may park on.

Color-and-pattern map

Indiana scenarios

US 40 two-lane, solid yellow on your side. A slower farm vehicle is ahead. Solid yellow on the driver's side means you should not cross except to turn. Wait for broken yellow, or for a legal passing zone that is not otherwise prohibited in the next section.

Three lanes same direction, Indianapolis. Broken white lines separate the lanes. You may change lanes when it is safe — after the mirror, head-check, and signal steps in the next section. You should not drift across a solid white line that channels an exit-only lane.

Center turn lane, busy commercial strip. You pull into the center lane to turn left into a grocery store. An oncoming car is also entering that lane to turn left into a shop on your side. You never use the lane to pass the car ahead of you. You yield to the conflict in the shared left-turn space and complete only the left turn.

Sharrows beside downtown parking. A bicycle is riding on the sharrows, outboard of the parked cars. That is the intended position so a door does not open into the rider. You do not honk the cyclist into the gutter, and you do not treat the sharrow as an empty extra lane.

Green bike lane and red bus lane. Green paint on your right is a bike lane — do not drive or park in it. Red paint ahead is a transit lane — it is for buses, taxis, or other designated public transit, not for cutting the queue.

Exam traps

• Calling yellow a same-direction line (that is white)
• Calling white an oncoming-traffic line (that is yellow)
• Passing across solid yellow and calling it a lane change
• Crossing solid white because "white always means you may change lanes"
• Using a center left-turn lane to pass, or driving in it as a through lane
• Assuming an unmarked center turn lane is free to use however you like — the manual says some have neither signs nor arrows and are still left-turn only
• Treating sharrows as a bike lane cars must never occupy, or ignoring them and squeezing cyclists into parked cars
• Mixing green bike pavement with red transit pavement
• Stopping on the crosswalk because you skipped the solid white stop line

Color first, then pattern. Yellow versus white tells you whose traffic you would hit. Broken versus solid tells you whether Indiana lets you cross. Special lanes and colored pavement are extra rules on top of that pair, not substitutes for it.