A two-way left-turn lane in the middle of a street shows pavement striping on each side of this lane as follows

A two-way left-turn lane in the middle of a street shows pavement striping on each side of this lane as follows

• A. Solid lines outside; dashed lines inside
• B. Two solid lines
• C. Dashed outside lines; solid inside lines
• D. Dashed inside lines; dashed outside lines

Answer: (A)

In a two-way left-turn lane, the center lane is a shared space used for making left turns from either direction. The way it’s striped tells you how to use it: solid lines on the outer edges of the lane and dashed lines on the inner edges. The solid line on the outside acts as a boundary you should not cross from the adjacent travel lanes, keeping through traffic in its proper lane. The dashed line on the inside indicates you may cross into or out of the center left-turn lane from the neighboring lane when it’s safe, to complete a left turn. So you should stay in your current travel lane until you can enter the center left-turn lane by crossing the dashed boundary, then turn and merge back after your turn. That’s why the pattern described is solid outside and dashed inside. Other patterns would either allow crossing the outer boundary (which isn’t permitted) or give too permissive access to the center lane, which isn’t how this lane is designed to be used.

In a two-way left-turn lane, the center lane is a shared space used for making left turns from either direction. The way it’s striped tells you how to use it: solid lines on the outer edges of the lane and dashed lines on the inner edges. The solid line on the outside acts as a boundary you should not cross from the adjacent travel lanes, keeping through traffic in its proper lane. The dashed line on the inside indicates you may cross into or out of the center left-turn lane from the neighboring lane when it’s safe, to complete a left turn.

So you should stay in your current travel lane until you can enter the center left-turn lane by crossing the dashed boundary, then turn and merge back after your turn. That’s why the pattern described is solid outside and dashed inside. Other patterns would either allow crossing the outer boundary (which isn’t permitted) or give too permissive access to the center lane, which isn’t how this lane is designed to be used.