Warning Signs: Changes, Hazards, and Advisory Speeds
What this domain tests
Warning signs alert you to a change ahead so you can adjust speed or position. They are usually yellow diamonds with black symbols. The exam tests curve, intersection, narrowing, grade, and surface warnings, plus the meaning of advisory speed and distance plaques.
Core rules
- Curves: a curve sign shows the direction; a chevron marks the alignment through the curve. An advisory speed plaque is a recommended safe speed, not a legal maximum.
- Intersections: crossroad, side-road, and T-intersection signs warn of entering traffic. They do not assign right-of-way.
- Narrowing: lane-ends, merge, and road-narrows signs tell you to adjust early; the lane that ends must yield or merge as posted.
- Grades: hill and steep-grade signs warn of slow trucks and limited sight distance; truck plaques may direct lower gears.
- Surface hazards: slippery-when-wet, loose-gravel, and uneven-pavement signs call for reduced speed and smoother inputs.
Worked example
A yellow curve sign shows a right bend with a 35 mph advisory plaque, and the pavement is wet. The 35 mph plaque is not a regulatory speed limit, but it is strong evidence that a 55 mph approach is too fast. The driver should slow below the advisory speed, stay right, and avoid braking hard mid-curve.
Traps that cost marks
- Ignoring a distance plaque that says the hazard begins later.
- Treating an advisory speed as a legal limit or as optional in bad weather.
- Assuming a warning sign gives you priority at an intersection.
- Reading a chevron as a speed limit instead of an alignment guide.