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The road surface is well marked and we had an easy drive, just as we imagined, on the motorway.

For example, you may remember being taught that a yellow line on a driveway not only prohibited passing, but also prohibited crossing it altogether. But how confusing it is to see wide medians on main roads, marked with thick turn arrows, so you can go around traffic, enter the turn lane, and turn left into office building and shopping mall parking lots.

“I would be confused,” said John Townsend, a spokesman for AAA (formerly the American Automobile Association). Townsend fought Virginia laws on the issue and won, finding a provision allowing driving on a yellow line “when making a left turn for the purpose of entering or leaving a public, private or commercial road or entrance.”

Virginia laws state that you can cross the street even on a double yellow light when you are turning left or when you have to slide to avoid hitting a pedestrian or human-powered vehicle, such as a bicycle or skateboard.

Townsend recalled driver training classes where instructors insisted that crossing a yellow line was bad and that was the end of it. Many of us may have been taught this, or think we were taught this.

“It’s important to know the rules of the road,” he said, and those rules may be different from those you learned as a new driver.

“We only do driving tests and this is the last time we review the rules. The result is you can get a fine and go to court and it’s an incorrect fine” that you could have avoided, he said.

Each state has its own traffic laws, and cities sometimes further refine these rules. So make sure you know the traffic laws for the road you’re driving on.

Before you get confused by yellow lines and turn lanes, here are some basic rules that should be applied everywhere:

• The most common lane markings are white. Solid white lines are used to indicate lanes of traffic in one direction or to mark the shoulder of the road. White dashed or “dotted” lines are used to indicate the centerlines between lanes.

• Yellow lines indicate the direction of travel in different directions. Staying on the side of the yellow line can help avoid serious collisions with oncoming vehicles.

Given the severe consequences of ignoring the yellow line, it is understandable why it is widely believed that crossing it is never allowed. In our Virginia example, crossing the yellow line is sometimes permitted.

Imagine people living on narrow, winding roads with yellow lines running down the middle to minimize the danger of travel. If crossing the yellow line is sometimes prohibited, how are residents supposed to turn left into their driveways?

Keep to your side of the double yellow line in the centre of the road. If you need to overtake, please use the lane on your side of the yellow line.

At this time you will have to be “patient” and make every effort. Overtaking is prohibited by law, as it means crossing the double yellow line and driving into the oncoming traffic lane.

But remember, if you’re turning left, you can cross a double yellow line, provided the street you’re on allows left turns. As Townsend said, check your area’s traffic laws.

If the solid yellow line is on your side, you must not cross it. On the other hand, if it is safe, you can cross it.

You can cross the solid yellow line on your side of the road and move into the center lane to turn left. But please be careful of oncoming traffic as they also have the right to use the same turning lane.

This design allows you to move out from moving traffic into the turning lane to make the turn when it is safe to do so.

Multi-lane, two-way roads sometimes have diamond-shaped stripes marked on the road surface. This usually means that these lanes are intended for use by high-occupancy vehicles (HOVs), sometimes called “carpooling vehicles.”

Roadside signs should help you understand when and how to use these lanes. Sometimes restricted lanes are open to all vehicles outside of certain hours.

The lanes are designed to speed up traffic in one direction at certain times of the day, such as in the morning when residents are commuting into the city for work, and in the afternoon to get people out of the city faster.