When double solid yellow lines separate lanes of traffic:

1. Passing is permitted from the left.
2. Passing is permitted from the right.
3. Passing is not permitted from either direction. ✓

Answer: C. Passing is not permitted from either direction.

Passing is not permitted from either direction when double solid yellow lines separate lanes of traffic.

Why this is the answer

The handbook's rule for double solid yellow lines is that you must not cross them to pass, and you should stay on the right side of them unless a specific listed exception applies, such as an HOV lane entrance or a sign directing you around a blockage. Because the lines apply to traffic on both sides, neither direction may use them as a passing zone. The listed left-turn exceptions are about turning into driveways or private roads or making a U-turn, not about passing another vehicle.

Why the other answers are wrong

• A. Passing is permitted from the left. — Moving left to pass would mean crossing the double solid yellow lines, which the handbook prohibits.
• B. Passing is permitted from the right. — The handbook gives no permission to pass from the right when double solid yellow lines separate traffic; it says not to pass over those lines and to stay to the right unless an exception applies.

Remember it

Picture double yellow as a wall: no crossing for passing, only the handbook's listed exceptions.