The Virginia road signs test

How the signs part is scored

It's all or nothing. The DMV says you must correctly answer all ten traffic sign questions in part one before you can take part two. Part two, the 30 general knowledge questions, is scored separately at 80%.

If you fail on signs, the usual retake rules apply: a 15-day wait if you're under 18, or once a day if you're 18 or older.

Regulatory signs: rules set by law

Red and white signs tell you to stop, yield or stay out, and the red circle and slash means 'no'. Black and white signs give a rule set by law, like a speed limit or no turns. Most rules are on vertical rectangles, while horizontal rectangles carry directions and information.

• Always stop. At an all-way stop, if you arrive together, the driver on the left yields
• Slow down, be ready to stop, and let others go first
• Do not enter this road from here
• Wrong way: you're facing traffic, get out safely
• The most you may drive on this road
• Do not pass other vehicles here
• No turns of any kind here
• No turn while the light is red
• Railroad crossbuck: the crossing itself, yield to trains

Warning signs

Yellow with black means a warning about special conditions or hazards ahead. Most warnings are diamonds. Two use their own shapes: the round yellow railroad sign and the pennant that marks a no-passing zone.

• Curve ahead: slow down before it
• Stop sign ahead: get ready to stop
• Slippery when wet: slow down in rain
• Merging traffic: make room or adjust speed
• Deer crossing: watch the roadside, especially at dusk
• Pedestrian crossing: be ready to stop for people
• No passing zone starts here
• Railroad crossing ahead: slow down, look and listen

School, work zone and incident signs

The pentagon is kept for school zones and school crossings, and yellow-green also marks pedestrian and bicycle signs. Orange with black means a construction or work zone. Virginia also uses pink signs with black letters for an incident area, such as a crash scene.

• School zone or school crossing: watch for children
• School crossing here: be ready to stop
• Lower school speed limit while the lights flash
• School bus stop ahead
• Road work ahead: slow down
• Flagger ahead: be ready to stop
• Workers on or near the road

Guide and service signs

Green signs give directions to cities and routes, blue signs point to motorist services, and brown signs lead to historic and cultural sites.

• Interstate route marker
• Milepost: your place along the highway
• Rest area ahead
• Hospital nearby
• Gas nearby
• Airport this way

Signals and lines that come up too

• Red X: never drive in the lane. Yellow X: move out. Green arrow: use it
• Flashing red: treat it like a stop sign
• Flashing yellow arrow: turn after yielding to traffic and people
• Shared center lane: left turns only, no more than 150 feet in it
• Double solid yellow: no passing either way
• Broken line on your side: you may pass when it's safe

• At a railroad crossing with flashing red lights, you stop even if you don't see a train.
• If signals are dark because of a power cut, treat the intersection as an all-way stop.

How to practice the signs

The DMV's interactive study guide has a section on signals, signs and pavement markings with its own practice questions, and section 8 of the manual has a short sample exam that opens with sign questions. The 4 sign questions in our practice test follow the same all-or-nothing rule, so treat a single miss as a fail and go back to section 2.