Speed limits
Which of these does the handbook define as an alley?
- Any road no wider than 25 feet used to reach the rear or side entrances of buildings or properties. Correct answer
- Any road no wider than 15 feet used to reach the rear or side entrances of buildings or properties.
- Any intersection that has no stop signs at any corner.
Why
The handbook defines an alley by two features: it is narrow, 25 feet wide at most, and its purpose is reaching the back or side entrances of buildings or properties. Fifteen is the alley's speed limit, not its width, which makes the second answer a trap built from a real number. The third answer is the definition of a blind intersection, which shares the same 15 mph limit but describes a crossing, not a road. One permission worth knowing: you may drive on or across a sidewalk to get into or out of a driveway or alley.
Where this comes from
California Driver's Handbook, June 2025 edition. The correct answer is Any road no wider than 25 feet used to reach the rear or side entrances of buildings or properties.
The rule behind this one
California speed limits and the basic speed law goes through the whole topic, with the page of the California Driver's Handbook behind every rule.
More on speed limits
- You reach an intersection with no stop signs on any corner, and buildings block your view of the cross street. Besides keeping within the speed limit, what does the handbook tell you to do?
- At night you drive out of a brightly lit parking lot onto a dark road. What does the handbook advise?
- You are driving in strong, gusty winds. Which of these does the handbook recommend?
- You are driving past a school, less than 500 feet from it, and there are children outside or crossing the street. Unless a lower limit is posted, what is the speed limit?