Traffic Signs, Signals and Road Markings
Traffic signs, signals and road markings
This domain tests whether you can read the road at a glance-sign shape and color, signal meaning, and which pavement line you may cross. The exam asks you to recognize these instantly and act correctly, not to reason them out in traffic.
Signs by shape and color
- Octagon = stop. Inverted triangle = yield. Pennant (sideways triangle) = no-passing zone, placed on the left of your lane.
- Diamond = warning. Pentagon = school. Round = railroad advance warning. Crossbuck = the crossing itself.
- Red = prohibition; yellow = warning; orange = construction; green = guide; blue = services; brown = recreation; fluorescent yellow-green = pedestrians and schools.
Signals
A steady red means stop until green. A flashing red is a stop sign: stop, then go when clear. A flashing yellow means slow and use caution-not stop. A yellow light means stop unless you are too close to stop safely. A flashing yellow arrow permits a left turn only after yielding to oncoming traffic and pedestrians; a green arrow is protected.
Pavement markings
Yellow lines separate traffic moving in opposite directions; white lines separate traffic moving the same way. Broken lines may be crossed; solid lines may not. A solid yellow line on your side bans passing from your direction, even if the far side is broken.
Worked example
You are behind a slow truck. The line on your side is solid yellow; the far side is broken. Reasoning: the marking that governs you is the one nearest your lane, so passing is prohibited here despite the broken line across the center.
Traps that cost marks
Assuming right turn on red is always legal (it needs a full stop, a pedestrian check, and no sign against it); reading a pennant as a warning sign; treating a flashing yellow arrow as a protected turn; forgetting that orange means a work zone where fines can double.