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Montana Road Signs Practice study materials
Montana Road Signs Practice study resources

Montana Road Signs Practice: Railroad and School Zone Signs

Montana Road Signs Practice · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

Railroad and School Zone Signs

Railroad and School Zone Signs covers two high-risk areas: highway-rail crossings and school zones. Montana's test checks whether you know the advance warning signs, the meaning of crossbucks and active signals, and the rules for school speed limits, crossing guards, and school buses.

Core rules

  • A yellow circle with a black X and RR is a railroad advance warning sign. It tells you tracks are ahead; slow down, look, and listen.
  • A crossbuck (white X) marks the crossing itself and means yield to trains. At a crossing with flashing red lights, a gate, or a flagger, stop and remain stopped until the lights stop flashing, the gate rises, and the way is clear.
  • Never stop on tracks. If traffic is backed up, wait before the tracks until you can clear them completely. Expect a second train after one passes.
  • School zone and school crossing signs are fluorescent yellow-green pentagons. Obey the posted school speed limit, which in Montana is commonly 20 mph where posted, and slow further if children are near the road.
  • A crossing guard has authority to stop traffic. Stop when the guard displays a stop paddle or directs you to stop.
  • Stop for a school bus with red lights flashing and its stop arm out. On an undivided road, traffic in both directions must stop; on a divided highway, follow the law for your direction of travel.

Worked example

You enter a school zone posted '20 MPH WHEN CHILDREN ARE PRESENT.' It is 3:10 p.m., children are on the sidewalk, and a crossing guard steps into the road with a stop paddle. Reasoning: the condition is met, so slow to 20 mph or less. The guard's paddle is a direct order to stop, even if no sign says stop. Wait until the guard lowers the paddle and the children are clear, then proceed slowly.

Traps

Do not race a train or try to beat a gate. Do not stop on the tracks in a queue. Do not ignore a second train. Do not treat a school zone as active only during posted times if the sign says 'when children are present.' Do not pass a stopped school bus with red lights flashing.