Sharing the road
When may you overtake and pass a light rail vehicle or a streetcar on its left side?
- Only if the tracks leave no room on the right, you are on a one-way street, or an officer directs you to. Correct answer
- Whenever the light rail vehicle is standing still rather than moving.
- Whenever you can do it at no more than 10 mph.
Why
Left is the wrong side of a light rail vehicle, and the handbook closes the obvious loophole itself: the rule holds whether the vehicle is moving or standing. There are exactly three ways past it on the left. The tracks sit so close to the right that your vehicle cannot pass on that side, you are on a one-way street, or a traffic officer directs you to pass on the left. The 10 mph answer borrows a genuine limit from the rule next door, the one that lets you pass a bus, streetcar or trolley stopped at a safety zone or a traffic light at no more than 10 mph, but a slow speed does not buy you the left side. Two more habits go with light rail: never turn in front of an approaching one, and check for them before you turn across the tracks, because they can interrupt traffic lights.
Where this comes from
California Driver's Handbook, June 2025 edition. The correct answer is Only if the tracks leave no room on the right, you are on a one-way street, or an officer directs you to.
The rule behind this one
Sharing the road in California goes through the whole topic, with the page of the California Driver's Handbook behind every rule.
More on sharing the road
- Who is required to wear a helmet when riding a bicycle in California?
- You are riding a bicycle after dark. From how far away must the white light of your front lamp be visible?
- A neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV) pulls out in front of you. What does the handbook say about which roads these vehicles may use?
- A bicyclist ahead of you holds their left arm straight out to the side, pointing left. What are they telling you?