Road Signs and Signals
What the exam tests
The signs and signals domain tests rapid recognition: sign shape, colour, symbol and the action required. Heavy-vehicle questions often add a weight, height or length restriction, or a lane signal that applies only to goods vehicles.
Core rules
- Warning signs are usually triangles with a red border.
- Regulatory signs are usually circles: red rings prohibit, blue circles impose a mandatory action.
- Information and direction signs are usually rectangles.
- Temporary signs, such as roadworks signs, are commonly yellow.
- A red X lane signal means the lane is closed; a green arrow means it is open.
- Solid white lines must not be crossed; broken lines may be crossed when safe.
Worked example
A driver sees a red X above the right-hand lane of a three-lane road and a solid white line separating that lane from the middle lane. The correct action is to remain in the middle lane and not enter the closed lane. The red X is a lane-control signal that overrides the general permission to use that lane; the solid line reinforces the prohibition. Changing lanes late, even to avoid an obstacle, would breach both the signal and the marking.
Traps
Do not confuse a no-entry sign with a no-vehicles sign: one bars all traffic from entering, the other bans specific vehicle types. Do not read a blue circular sign as a warning; it tells you what you must do. At a priority narrow-road sign, the small arrow shows who has priority, not who is prohibited.