Road Signs, Signals and Road Markings
What this domain tests
Quebec uses the same sign and signal set for the Class 1 exam as for the passenger-car exam, but expects you to read it at highway speed and to apply the exceptions that matter for a tractor-trailer: clearance limits, weight-restricted bridges, prohibited routes and lane markings a 23 m combination cannot obey.
Sign families and Quebec specifics
- Shape carries meaning: octagon = ARRÊT, inverted triangle = CÉDEZ (yield), diamond = warning, rectangle = regulation or information, circle = railway advance warning.
- Colour: yellow = warning, orange = roadwork (in Quebec a work zone can run for months - treat it as permanent), green = destination and distance, blue = services.
- Flashing red = full stop, then proceed when safe. Flashing yellow = slow down and proceed with caution.
- A flashing green ball in Quebec is a protected left turn: oncoming traffic is stopped and you may turn left. A solid green gives you no such protection - you must yield to oncoming traffic when turning left.
- Signs aimed at your vehicle class: overhead clearance ("DÉGAGEMENT") in metres, posted axle and gross weight limits on bridges, truck-route and no-truck pictograms, dangerous-goods route signs.
Markings
Yellow lines separate opposing traffic; white lines separate lanes moving the same way or mark the right edge. Broken yellow allows passing when safe; solid yellow forbids passing on your side; double solid yellow forbids it both ways. Hatched chevron areas and painted medians are not driving surfaces. Reserved lanes (bus, taxi, carpool) carry a diamond and are normally closed to a heavy truck unless the sign lists your class.
Worked example
You approach an intersection showing a flashing green ball and your route turns left. The flashing green protects the turn from oncoming traffic, but it does not protect you from pedestrians in the crosswalk you are entering, and it does not let you swing into the opposing lane. Signal, position, check the crosswalk and your right mirror for a cyclist, then complete the turn.
Traps that cost marks
Confusing flashing green with flashing yellow; treating an orange work-zone sign as advisory when it is enforceable; ignoring a clearance sign because the trailer "fit last time"; and reading a no-right-turn-on-red plaque only after starting the turn.