District of Columbia Lanes & Turns practice test

Practice lane markings, turns, passing and merging: 45 questions based on the DC DMV Automobile Driver Manual, 12 of them on District of Columbia's own rules.

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Key District of Columbia facts: Lanes & Turns

  • Keep to the right except to overtake, pass a cyclist or make a left turn. Driver Manual, p. 41
  • A vehicle overtaking another on a two-way road passes on the left. 18 DCMR § 2202.2
  • Do not drive on the left side within 100 feet of an intersection, railroad crossing or bridge, viaduct or tunnel. 18 DCMR § 2202.3
  • Passing on the right is allowed when the vehicle ahead is turning left, on one-way streets, and on roads with two or more moving lanes each way. 18 DCMR § 2202.5
  • Return to the right lane when both headlights of the passed vehicle show in the mirror. Driver Manual, p. 41

Sample Lanes & Turns questions

On which side do you normally pass another vehicle on a two-way road?

  • Either
  • The shoulder
  • The left
  • The right
Show the answer

The left

Pass on the left.

Source: 18 DCMR § 2202, 18 DCMR § 2202.2

Within what distance of an intersection or railroad crossing may you not pass on the left?

  • 100 feet
  • 500 feet
  • 25 feet
  • 10 feet
Show the answer

100 feet

Passing is prohibited within 100 feet of an intersection or crossing.

Source: 18 DCMR § 2202, 18 DCMR § 2202.3

What does a broken white line mean?

  • Lanes going the same way; change lanes with care
  • Passing is not allowed in either lane
  • It marks a lane reserved for buses
  • Lane changes are never allowed here
Show the answer

Lanes going the same way; change lanes with care

Broken white lines allow lane changes.

Source: DC DMV Automobile Driver Manual (published Dec. 2023), Driver Manual, p. 57

When may you pass on the right in the District?

  • Never
  • When the vehicle ahead is slow
  • When on the shoulder
  • When the vehicle ahead is turning left
Show the answer

When the vehicle ahead is turning left

Passing right is allowed in specific cases.

Source: 18 DCMR § 2202, 18 DCMR § 2202.5

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About these questions

We wrote these practice questions from the facts in the DC DMV Automobile Driver Manual (DC DMV Automobile Driver Manual (English), District of Columbia Department of Motor Vehicles; 59 pages; the DMV publication page 'DC DMV Automobile Driver Manual' is dated Jan 22, 2024 and the Issuu file metadata gives a first publication date of 2023-12-20 (no edition or revision mark inside the manual); read 2026-11-10. The manual is offered only as an Issuu flipbook linked from https://dmv.dc.gov/publication/dc-dmv-automobile-driver-manual (no PDF on dmv.dc.gov), so the 59 page images were fetched from Issuu's image host and read with macOS Vision OCR into sources/DC/dc_manual_ocr.txt; page numbers cited are printed page numbers, which equal the page order. Cited in questions as the DMV publication page because Issuu is not a .gov host. Rules not in the manual come from the District's official law: D.C. Official Code Title 50 (code.dccouncil.gov) and 18 DCMR (dcregs.dc.gov), both read 2026-11-10. The manual has no section on DUI penalties, insurance minimums or crash reporting thresholds, so those facts come from the Code or are not tested. DC is not a state, so the District's own statutes and regulations replace state codes. Handbook statements that differ from or go beyond current law and how they were handled: (1) child restraint (manual p. 48 says only that a child under 3 rides in a child safety seat in the back seat) differs from D.C. Code 50-1703, which requires a child restraint under 3, a car seat or booster under 8 and a restraint or belt under 16; questions use the Code. (2) School buses (manual p. 38: stop at least 20 feet away; exception on a divided highway) differs from 18 DCMR 2209.1 (stop not less than 15 feet; exception only across a median strip divider); questions use the regulation. (3) Headphones (manual p. 47: earphones for cell phones are acceptable) is out of date against D.C. Code 50-1731.04(c) as amended by D.C. Law 26-55 (Dec. 6, 2025), which bans headphones over both ears and earbuds in both ears while driving; the question uses the Code. (4) Provisional and under-18 night hours (manual pp. 14-15: stop at 10:59 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 11:59 p.m. Friday-Sunday) differ from D.C. Code 50-1401.01 (restricted from 11 p.m. on Sunday through Thursday nights outside July and August, and from 12:01 a.m. otherwise); only the Tuesday-night 11 p.m. and the July-August 12:01 a.m. rules are tested. (5) Phones (manual pp. 19 and 26 say only that drivers must be hands-free) is narrower than D.C. Code 50-1731.04 (holding is also banned; exceptions for emergency calls, starting or ending a call and a vehicle stopped off the active road) and 50-1731.05 (no phone at all for learner permit holders and drivers under 18, even hands-free); questions follow the Code. (6) The manual (pp. 42, 50) says a right turn on red is allowed after a stop unless a No Turn on Red sign is posted. D.C. Law 24-214 (Safer Streets Amendment Act of 2022) added a rule that from Jan 1, 2025 a driver may not turn on a steady red unless DDOT has posted a sign allowing it, but the Code annotation to 50-2201.04e says that amendment is subject to funding and has not been implemented; the DDOT page 'No Turn On Red Intersections' also exists. The right-turn-on-red permission is therefore not tested; only the left turn on red ban (manual pp. 42, 50) and the No Turn on Red sign are. (7) Speed limits (manual p. 46 lists 30-50 mph on ordinary highways, 30-55 on divided highways and 55-75 on interstates) are not repeated in 18 DCMR 2200.6, which sets 20 mph as the maximum unless designated; the ranges are not tested. The school zone limit has hours (6 a.m. to 7 p.m., 18 DCMR 2200.8) that the manual omits; the regulation is used. (8) Parking distances: the manual (p. 44) puts the stop-sign rule at 25 feet in front of a flashing signal, stop sign or signal; 18 DCMR 2405.2 uses the approach side of a STOP or YIELD sign and also bans parking within 40 feet of the intersection of curb lines; the manual's safety-zone distance (30 feet) differs from the regulation (90 feet); only hydrant (10 feet), driveway (5 feet), fire station (20 feet) and railroad crossing (50 feet) distances, which match, are tested. (9) The knowledge test retake wait is 'three calendar days' on the DMV Knowledge Tests page and in the manual (p. 12) but 72 hours in 18 DCMR 104.11; only the 72 hours after a failed road test (manual p. 13, same 72 hours) is tested. (10) Point totals for suspension and revocation (manual pp. 19-20) and the GRAD learner-stage point suspension (manual p. 16) could not be matched to a current regulation text (the 18 DCMR 302 text returned by DCRegs was a proposed-rule notice); they follow the manual, and the speeding and leaving-the-scene point values come from 18 DCMR 303.2. (11) The manual says a driver who moves must update a change of address within 60 days (p. 19) and that out-of-state license holders must get a DC license within 60 days (p. 11); these were not compared with the Code. The vision, fee, organ donor and Selective Service sections were not used. edition) and from official sources on road signs. Every answer links to its source, so you can check it and read more.

DMV Decoded is an independent guide, not a government agency. This practice test is not connected to the District of Columbia Department of Motor Vehicles (DC DMV), and your actual test will have different questions. Study the handbook, and check the agency's website for current rules.