Traffic signals and pavement markings explained
Lights tell you when to go; paint tells you where. This guide covers both the way permit tests ask about them, with six situations drawn from above.
- Steady yellow? Stop if you safely can
- Flashing red? Treat it as a stop sign
- Signal dark? Take turns, all-way stop
- Solid line on your side? No passing
Two colors of paint, three colors of light
Yellow lines always split traffic going in opposite directions; white lines split lanes going the same way and mark the right edge of the road. A solid line asks you to stay on your side of it, a broken one lets you cross when it is safe. Signals work the same way in every state: green lets you go once the way is clear, yellow warns that red is about to come on, and red holds you behind the line.
Six situations at lights and lines
Your car is the teal one; signals are drawn where you would see them.
1 The light turns yellow as you arrive
You are a short way from an intersection when the light changes from green to yellow.
What to do: Stop at the line if you can do it safely. If you are already too close to stop smoothly, go through with care.
Why: Yellow means red is next. Speeding up to beat it causes many crashes at signals, and a panic stop right at the line can be just as risky for the car behind.
2 A red light that blinks
The signal facing you is flashing red, on and off, and a car is coming along the cross street.
What to do: Come to a full stop, then go when the way is clear, exactly as at a stop sign.
Why: A blinking red is read as a stop sign. A blinking yellow is gentler: it only asks you to slow down and take extra care.
3 The lights have gone dark
A storm has cut the power, and the signals at a busy corner show no light at all.
What to do: Stop, then take turns as you would at an all-way stop.
Why: With every signal dark, nobody has a green. Treating the corner as an all-way stop gives every driver the same rule; your handbook says how your state words it.
4 A solid yellow line on your side
You are behind a slow truck on a two-lane road. The center line next to your lane is solid; the one next to the other lane is broken.
What to do: Stay behind the truck. Pass only once the line on your side turns broken and the road ahead is clear.
Why: The line nearest your lane is the one you obey. Drivers coming the other way may pass here; you may not.
5 The shared lane in the middle
A wide street has a middle lane edged on each side by a solid yellow line on the outside and a broken one on the inside.
What to do: Use it only to slow down and wait for a left turn, and never drive along it to pass.
Why: Drivers from both directions use that lane for left turns. Drive along it too far and you can meet someone turning from the other side.
6 Where to stop at a red light
You stop for a red light. A wide white line crosses your lane, with a crosswalk just beyond it.
What to do: Stop behind the white line. With no line, stop before the crosswalk; with neither, stop before you enter the intersection.
Why: The line keeps the crosswalk clear for people on foot and leaves room for large vehicles turning into your street.
Answers that trip people up
- "Yellow means speed up to make it."A yellow light means the red is only moments away. Stop when you can do so safely.
- "Flashing yellow and flashing red mean the same."Flashing yellow: slow down and go with care. Flashing red: a full stop first, like a stop sign.
- "A broken line means I can pass whenever I like."Broken only allows it. You still need a clear view and enough room to finish the pass.
- "White and yellow lines mean the same thing."Yellow divides opposite directions. White divides lanes heading your way.
Check yourself
1. The signal ahead is flashing yellow. What does it tell you?
Slow down and go through with care. A blinking yellow is a warning to take care. Only a blinking red calls for a full stop.
2. On a two-lane road the center line beside your lane is broken and the one beside the other lane is solid. May you pass?
Yes, when the way ahead is clear. You follow the line next to your own lane, and on your side it is broken.
Practice signals and markings for your state
Every state's signs and signals practice comes from its own handbook and points to the page each rule is on.
- Alabama: signals and markings
- Alaska: signals and markings
- Arizona: signals and markings
- Arkansas: signals and markings
- California: signals and markings
- Colorado: signals and markings
- Connecticut: signals and markings
- Delaware: signals and markings
- Florida: signals and markings
- Georgia: signals and markings
- Hawaii: signals and markings
- Idaho: signals and markings
- Illinois: signals and markings
- Indiana: signals and markings
- Iowa: signals and markings
- Kansas: signals and markings
- Kentucky: signals and markings
- Louisiana: signals and markings
- Maine: signals and markings
- Maryland: signals and markings
- Massachusetts: signals and markings
- Michigan: signals and markings
- Minnesota: signals and markings
- Mississippi: signals and markings
- Missouri: signals and markings
- Montana: signals and markings
- Nebraska: signals and markings
- Nevada: signals and markings
- New Hampshire: signals and markings
- New Jersey: signals and markings
- New Mexico: signals and markings
- New York: signals and markings
- North Carolina: signals and markings
- North Dakota: signals and markings
- Ohio: signals and markings
- Oklahoma: signals and markings
- Oregon: signals and markings
- Pennsylvania: signals and markings
- Rhode Island: signals and markings
- South Carolina: signals and markings
- South Dakota: signals and markings
- Tennessee: signals and markings
- Texas: signals and markings
- Utah: signals and markings
- Vermont: signals and markings
- Virginia: signals and markings
- Washington: signals and markings
- West Virginia: signals and markings
- Wisconsin: signals and markings
- Wyoming: signals and markings