A
single-track road or
one-lane road is a
road that permits two-way travel but is not wide enough in most places to allow
vehicles to
pass one another (although sometimes two
compact cars can pass). This kind of road is common in
rural areas across the
United Kingdom and elsewhere. To accommodate two-way
traffic, many single-track roads, especially those officially designated as such, are provided with
passing places (United Kingdom) or
pullouts or
turnouts (United States), or simply wide spots in the road, which may be scarcely longer than a typical
automobile using the road. The distance between passing places varies considerably, depending on the
terrain and the volume of traffic on the road. The railway analog for passing places are passing loops.