Sharing the road
A neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV) pulls out in front of you. What does the handbook say about which roads these vehicles may use?
- They are kept off roads where the speed limit is greater than 35 mph. Correct answer
- They are kept off roads where the speed limit is greater than 25 mph.
- They may be driven on any public road, freeways included.
Why
Two numbers, two different jobs, and swapping them is the whole trap here. Twenty-five mph is the maximum speed a neighborhood electric vehicle or low-speed vehicle can reach. Thirty-five mph is the posted limit above which it is not allowed on the road at all. So the vehicle's own top speed is not the same as the road limit that excludes it. NEV USE ONLY and NEV ROUTE signs and markings are the warning that these vehicles are about. They belong to the handbook's group of slow-moving vehicles, along with scooters and golf carts, and the instruction it gives you for all of them is the same one: adjust your speed to share the road.
Where this comes from
California Driver's Handbook, DL 600 ENGLISH (REV. 6/2025). The correct answer is They are kept off roads where the speed limit is greater than 35 mph..
- Section 7. Laws and Rules of the Road › Sharing the Road › Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs) and Low-speed Vehicles (LSVs) , page 46
- Section 7. Laws and Rules of the Road › Sharing the Road › Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs) and Low-speed Vehicles (LSVs) , page 46
- Section 7. Laws and Rules of the Road › Sharing the Road › Slow-moving Vehicles , page 46