Signs, signals and pavement markings
You are driving next to a carpool (HOV) lane that is separated from your lane by double solid white lines. When may you cross them to enter the HOV lane?
- Never; wait until the marking changes to a single broken white line. Correct answer
- Whenever the HOV lane is moving faster than your lane.
- Any time you have the required number of passengers.
Why
Double solid white lines mark a barrier between a regular lane and a preferential lane, such as an HOV lane, and also appear near freeway on- and off-ramps. You never change lanes across them, in either direction. Having enough passengers makes you eligible to use the HOV lane, but eligibility does not let you cross the barrier: you enter and exit only where the marking becomes a single broken white line or at a designated entrance. The speed of the other lane is irrelevant. The same idea applies to the double solid lines on the left of some HOV lanes: cross only at designated entrances and exits.
Where this comes from
California Driver's Handbook, June 2025 edition. The correct answer is Never; wait until the marking changes to a single broken white line.
The rule behind this one
California road signs, signals and pavement markings goes through the whole topic, with the page of the California Driver's Handbook behind every rule.
More on signs, signals and pavement markings
- You see a five-sided (pentagon-shaped) sign ahead. What does it tell you?
- You are waiting in a left turn lane when the green arrow changes to a solid yellow arrow. What is that signal telling you?
- The left turn signal ahead of you shows a flashing yellow arrow. What may you do?
- A line of solid white triangles is painted across your lane as you approach an intersection, with the points aimed at you. What is it?