NY · STUDY GUIDE
Road Signs, Signals & Markings
Sign shapes and colors, traffic signals, and pavement markings — 4 of your 20 real-exam questions are road signs, and at least 2 must be right. This guide has 61 questions, each citing the NY manual section it comes from — the first 18 are free to read below.
1 · TRAFFIC SIGNS
Most New York regulation signs are:
- ✓ White rectangles with black letters or symbols
- · Yellow diamonds with black symbols
- · Green rectangles with white letters
- · Blue circles with white letters
Regulation signs normally use a white rectangular background with black lettering or symbols, although some use other shapes or red elements.
📖 NY Manual · Ch. 4 · Signs, p. 292 · TRAFFIC SIGNS
A typical warning sign is:
- ✓ Yellow and diamond-shaped with black letters or symbols
- · White and rectangular
- · Green and rectangular
- · Blue and square
Warning signs normally use a yellow diamond with black lettering or symbols to alert you to hazards or special conditions.
📖 NY Manual · Ch. 4 · Signs, p. 303 · TRAFFIC SIGNS
Destination signs are normally:
- ✓ Green with white letters or symbols
- · Blue with white letters
- · Orange with black letters
- · Red with white letters
Green-and-white destination signs show directions and distances to locations.
📖 NY Manual · Ch. 4 · Signs, p. 304 · TRAFFIC SIGNS
Blue signs with white letters or symbols usually identify:
- ✓ Motorist services such as gas, rest areas, camping, or medical facilities
- · Work zones
- · Mandatory speed limits
- · Railroad crossings
Service signs are blue and white and point to services such as rest areas, fuel, camping, and medical facilities.
📖 NY Manual · Ch. 4 · Signs, p. 305 · TRAFFIC SIGNS
A red circle with a diagonal slash over a symbol means:
- ✓ The pictured action is prohibited
- · The action is required
- · The road is ending
- · The action is recommended
The red circle-and-slash is a prohibition symbol: whatever action or vehicle is pictured is not allowed.
📖 NY Manual · Ch. 4 · Signs, p. 296 · TRAFFIC SIGNS
A yellow-and-black recommended-speed plaque below a warning sign indicates:
- ✓ A reduced speed is advised for the condition ahead
- · The legal minimum speed
- · A school-zone speed that always applies
- · The speed only for trucks
A recommended-speed plaque warns that a lower speed is advisable for the hazard; it is not the same thing as a white regulatory speed-limit sign.
📖 NY Manual · Ch. 4 · Signs, p. 307 · TRAFFIC SIGNS
This sign means:
- ✓ The right lane ends; stay or merge left
- · The left lane ends
- · Two-way traffic begins
- · The road becomes one-way
The official NY DMV sign list identifies this as RIGHT LANE ENDS — STAY TO THE LEFT.
📖 NY Manual · Ch. 4 · Signs, p. 308 · TRAFFIC SIGNS
This sign requires you to:
- ✓ Slow down, prepare to stop, and yield to traffic and pedestrians
- · Come to a full stop every time
- · Speed up before entering
- · Yield only to vehicles on your left
At a YIELD sign, reduce speed, check carefully, and stop if traffic conditions require it.
📖 NY Manual · Ch. 4 · Signs, p. 299 · TRAFFIC SIGNS
This warning sign means:
- ✓ Traffic will merge into your roadway from the right
- · Your lane ends immediately
- · A right turn is required
- · A divided highway begins
The merge symbol warns that another traffic stream joins from the right; adjust speed and space as needed.
📖 NY Manual · Ch. 4 · Signs, p. 3010 · TRAFFIC SIGNS
This sign means:
- ✓ Come to a full stop and yield before proceeding when safe
- · Slow without stopping
- · Stop only for pedestrians
- · Yield without stopping
STOP requires a complete stop at the stop line, before the crosswalk if there is no stop line, or before entering the intersection if neither is present.
📖 NY Manual · Ch. 4 · Signs, p. 2911 · TRAFFIC SIGNS
This round yellow warning sign means:
- ✓ A railroad crossing is ahead
- · A roundabout is ahead
- · A school crossing is ahead
- · No passing begins
The circular railroad advance-warning sign tells you to expect tracks ahead and be prepared to stop.
📖 NY Manual · Ch. 10 · Railroad Crossing Warning Sign, p. 6112 · TRAFFIC SIGNS
This sign warns that:
- ✓ A traffic signal is ahead
- · A stop sign is ahead
- · A fire station is ahead
- · Traffic must merge
Traffic Signal Ahead warns you that a signal may not be visible early enough; be ready to slow or stop.
📖 NY Manual · Ch. 4 · Signs, p. 3013 · TRAFFIC SIGNS
This five-sided school sign warns of:
- ✓ A school crossing or school area
- · A pedestrian-only trail
- · A hospital
- · A work zone
The school-crossing symbol alerts drivers to children and school activity; slow down and scan carefully.
📖 NY Manual · Ch. 4 · Signs, p. 3014 · TRAFFIC SIGNS
This sign tells you to:
- ✓ Keep to the right of the divider or obstruction
- · Pass on the right
- · Turn right at the next street
- · Move into the left lane
The arrow directs traffic to pass to the right of the median, island, or other divider.
📖 NY Manual · Ch. 4 · Signs, p. 3015 · TRAFFIC SIGNS
This sign warns that the roadway may be:
- ✓ Slippery when wet
- · Closed in rain
- · Steep downhill
- · Covered by loose gravel
The skidding-car symbol warns that traction can be reduced when the pavement is wet.
📖 NY Manual · Ch. 4 · Signs, p. 3016 · TRAFFIC SIGNS
This sign means:
- ✓ Left turns are prohibited
- · U-turns are prohibited
- · Left turns must yield
- · The road curves left
A left-turn arrow crossed by the prohibition symbol means NO LEFT TURN.
📖 NY Manual · Ch. 4 · Signs, p. 3017 · TRAFFIC SIGNS
This sign warns that:
- ✓ A divided highway ends ahead
- · A divided highway begins
- · Two lanes merge into one
- · A one-way street begins
When the median ends, opposing traffic will no longer be separated by the divider.
📖 NY Manual · Ch. 4 · Signs, p. 3018 · TRAFFIC SIGNS
This red-and-white sign means:
- ✓ Do not enter from this direction
- · Stop, then enter
- · One-way traffic ends
- · No parking
DO NOT ENTER marks an approach where traffic is prohibited from entering.
📖 NY Manual · Ch. 4 · Signs, p. 30Tip: use your ← and → arrow keys
FullPass is an independent study aid. Questions are reviewed against the cited official NY driver's manual; the state licensing agency remains the final authority.