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Traffic lanes are painted and marked for different purposes depending on the local, state, and federal laws and regulations. To best understand what these lane laws mean, it’s important to keep an eye out for markings, symbols, and other identifiers when driving.

Lane Markings and What They Mean

Every different kind of lane marking means something different. From dotted white lines to solid yellow, there are significant differences that you need to understand. Learning what each of these lane markings means can help you to avoid tickets, drive more safely, and generally enjoy driving more.

White Lane Markings

There are two kinds of white lane markings: dotted and solid. The former gives you more freedom to change lanes while the latter does not. Let’s break it down in greater detail.

Dotted white lanes mean that traffic is traveling in the same direction and that you are allowed to switch lanes whenever traffic allows you to do so safely. Simply pop your turn signal on, check for traffic, and merge langes.

Solid white lanes mean that traffic is traveling in the same direction but that you are not allowed to switch lanes. In these cases, you are to maintain your current lane and wait until the line markings become dotted again before switching lanes. Fortunately, solid white lines typically only exist briefly before intersections and around blind bends.

Yellow Lanes

Yellow lanes also come in two kinds: dotted and solid. The main difference between yellow and white lanes is that the color yellow is used to denote the lane on the other side is oncoming traffic whereas white is used to denote the lane on the other side is for traffic moving in the same direction as you.

Dotted yellow lane markings indicate that the other lane is for oncoming traffic but that you can shift into that lane temporarily for passing vehicles in front of you.

Solid yellow lane markings indicate that the other lane is for oncoming traffic and that you cannot for any reason shift into that lane.

If the lane is marked by both a solid line and a dotted line, then the driver on the side of the dotted line can shift lanes but the driver on the side of the solid line cannot.

HOV Lanes

HOV stands for “high-occupancy vehicle,” which are vehicles that contain three or more passengers. Therefore, HOV lanes are lanes set aside for use by high-occupancy vehicles. These lanes are marked by two solid white lines separating the lane and a large diamond in the center of the HOV lane.

Any person caught traveling in an HOV lane with fewer than 3 passengers in the vehicle can receive a ticket for violating the HOV lane’s regulations.

Bike Lanes

Bike lanes are lanes set aside specifically for bicyclists. Note that these lanes do not allow for motorcycles to be driven in them. Motorcycle riders must always drive their motorcycles in the standard lanes unless otherwise directed by markings or law enforcement.

Bike lanes are marked by double white lines separating the lane from the rest of traffic and an image of a bicyclist in the center of the bicycle lane. Bicyclists always have the right of way in bike lanes, unless otherwise stated by streetside markings or signs.

Two-Way Center Turn Lane

These lanes look nothing like other lanes and are the only lanes in which traffic can flow both ways. These two-way lanes are marked by a solid yellow line bordering the one-way lane and a dotted yellow line on the inside of the two-way lane.

These lanes enable drivers traveling in either direction to enter the lane and make legal left-hand turns. That means it is possible to come face-to-face with oncoming traffic, so you should always be alert when entering a two-way center turn lane.

Lane Driving Laws

As you might have guessed from reading the differences between each of the above kinds of lanes, there are quite a few differences in the driving laws associated with those lanes as well. Let’s break down the general rules associated with driving in specific lanes depending on their markings:

Left Lane Driving Laws

All 50 states in the United States have laws permitting drivers to use the left lane for passing slower vehicles when there is more than one car traveling in the same direction in the same lane. This law most commonly comes into effect when traveling on single-lane roads in rural areas. As long as the line is dotted and not a solid yellow line, you are permitted to do so.

Right Lane

In most cases, the rightmost lane of traffic is reserved for the slowest drivers on the road. This could be trucks with oversized loads, flat tires, equipment malfunctions, or just plain old drivers who like to travel slower than the speed limit.

However, be careful how much slower than the limit you go. Traveling too slowly on a public road can result in you getting a ticket.

Turning Lanes

Turning lanes are more complicated than simple left lanes or right lanes. Of course, these lanes are to be used solely for making turns and will almost always have some kind of markings indicating that (such as an arrow on the pavement or a sign).

However, it’s also important to know the laws regarding turns when there are multiple turn lanes side by side. You may not shift lanes in an intersection or during a turn and must end the turn in the same lane that you started in.

In other words, if there are two lanes turning and you turn from the left-most lane, you must end your turn still in that lane when driving on the new road.