Guide and Informational Signs: Finding Your Way
Guide and informational signs help you navigate, find services, and identify routes. They are not usually enforcement signs, but the Maryland exam tests their colors, shapes, and abbreviations because drivers must read them quickly at speed. The main color system is green for destinations and distances, blue for motorist services, brown for recreation and cultural sites, and the red-white-and-blue interstate shield for interstate routes.
Core rules
- Green guide signs show destinations, route directions, distances, and exits. A sign reading Baltimore 18 means Baltimore is 18 miles ahead by that route.
- Blue signs show services such as gas, food, lodging, hospitals, and rest areas. A blue H indicates a hospital.
- Brown signs point to parks, historic sites, recreation areas, and cultural attractions.
- Exit signs may say EXIT ONLY, indicating that the lane will leave the through route. An optional exit lane may continue or exit.
- Mile markers and exit numbers help you confirm location and report emergencies. On many Maryland interstates, exit numbers are mile-based.
- Route markers identify numbered routes; the interstate shield is distinct from a state or U.S. route marker.
Worked example
A green sign reads Annapolis 32 with an arrow pointing straight ahead. This means continuing on the current route leads to Annapolis, 32 miles away. It does not mean the speed limit is 32 or that Annapolis is 32 minutes away. If a blue sign below it shows a gas pump and food symbol, those are services at or near the exit, not destinations on the through route.
Traps that cost marks
Do not confuse brown recreation signs with blue service signs. Do not read a distance as a speed or time. EXIT ONLY means the lane must exit; it is not a suggestion. Also check arrows: a destination listed with a left arrow applies to the left exit or turn, not straight ahead.
Key points
- Green: destinations, distances, exits, and route guidance.
- Blue: motorist services such as gas, food, lodging, and hospitals.
- Brown: parks, recreation, historic, and cultural sites.
- Interstate shield: red, white, and blue route marker.
- EXIT ONLY means that lane must leave the through route.
- Distances are in miles, not minutes or speed limits.