Signals, Signs, Speed Limits and Pavement Markings: Every Light Color and Arrow, Inoperative Signals, Pedestrian-Activated Signals, Statutory Speed Limits, Adjusting Speed, Sign Shapes and Colors, Railroad Crossings, School Crossings, Route Markers and Mile Posts, Work Zones and Flaggers, Yellow and White Lines, Turn Arrows, Painted Curbs, HOV Lines, Reversible Lanes and One-Way Streets
Written for aiforu2 as the source for a practice-test bank and the on-device tutor for the Arizona driver license written test. The facts follow the official manual; the wording is ours.
Source: Arizona Driver License Manual and Customer Service Guide (ADOT MVD form 99-0117, revised March 2026), Section 3 "Roadway and Vehicle Knowledge", pages 33–35 (Signal Lights), 39–46 (Speed Limits, Traffic Signs, Work Zones, Pavement Markings, Use of Lanes).
Signal lights
Signals apply to pedestrians, bicyclists and moped riders as well as drivers, and you obey them unless a police officer directs otherwise. Green means go if clear: check left and right for red-light runners and yield to anyone already in the intersection. Steady yellow warns the light is about to turn red: stop safely if you have not entered, clear the intersection if you have, and never speed up to beat it. Red means a complete stop before the intersection, stop line or crosswalk for as long as it stays red; where no sign prohibits it you may turn right on red after a full stop when traffic and pedestrians are clear. A flashing red light works as a stop sign; a flashing yellow means slow and proceed with caution. A red arrow means you may not turn that way until a green signal appears. A yellow arrow warns the arrow is turning red: stop and wait for a green arrow if you have not entered, finish the turn if you have. A flashing yellow arrow means turn with caution after yielding to oncoming vehicles and pedestrians. A green arrow means go that way from the proper lane if clear. At an inoperative signal, treat the intersection as a four-way stop: stop fully, go when clear, and when two vehicles arrive together the driver on the left yields to the one on the right. Pedestrian- activated signals: flashing yellow means a pedestrian has pressed the button, solid yellow means prepare to stop, solid red means stop because someone is in the crosswalk, flashing red means stop and then proceed carefully once the pedestrian finishes crossing your half of the road, and blank lights mean proceed with caution if the crosswalk is clear.
Speed limits
Obey all posted limits and be ready to adjust. Where none is posted: 15 mph approaching a school crosswalk, 25 mph in a business or residential district, 55 mph on open highways and city freeways, 65 mph on designated open highways, and 75 mph on rural freeways. White speed signs with black letters are regulatory maximums; orange signs with black letters give recommended safe speeds for curves, grades or special conditions. Limits assume the best conditions: reduce speed on wet, snowy or icy roads, and in bad weather double your following distance. Driving too slowly is also dangerous; keep right and let faster traffic pass.
Signs by shape and color
Shape can tell you a sign's meaning when rain, dust or fog hides the rest. The octagon is only for stop signs; the triangle requires yielding to cross or merging traffic; the pennant marks the start of a no-passing zone; rectangles regulate speed and direction; yellow diamonds warn of danger ahead, with small yellow squares beneath curve signs giving the safe speed; a circle warns of a railroad crossing ahead; a pentagon marks a school crossing, in yellow or the newer yellow-green. Guide signs include interstate, U.S. and state route markers. Arizona is one of the few states with mile posts on every state highway, set 2 feet off the right shoulder about 1 mile apart; note your route and the nearest post if you crash, break down or run out of gas.
Railroad and school crossings
At a railroad crossing sign, stop no closer than 15 feet from the nearest rail when red lights flash, the barricade is lowered, bells ring, or a flagger warns of a train or on-track equipment. Do not cross until all signals stop and the barricade is fully up, and never drive around or under a lowered gate. Expect a train on any track at any time, do not get trapped on the crossing, get out if your vehicle stalls on the tracks, look for a second train, never race a train, watch for buses and gasoline tankers that must stop at crossings, and at night watch for unlit crossing signs. In a school crossing zone with portable signs in the center of the road, the maximum speed from the first sign to past the crossing sign is 15 mph; passing is prohibited; obey the crossing guard and stop completely whenever any person is in the crosswalk. When the portable signs are not out, the normal limit applies.
Work zones
Work zones may be long-term with permanent signs or set up for a few hours with portable ones. Typical crashes are rear-end collisions from speed, hits on fixed objects and strikes on workers, who may be beside or in the travel lanes at any point. Orange is the color of work-zone devices; most construction signs are diamond-shaped. Fines double for traffic violations in Arizona work zones. Flaggers in orange vests use red flags or stop/slow paddles. Electronic message signs give advance warning of construction, closures and weather; cones, drums and barricades guide you, with lights at night; flashing arrow panels tell you to slow and merge in the arrow's direction.
Pavement markings
Yellow center lines mean two-way traffic; white lines separate same-direction lanes and mark road edges, stop lines and crosswalks. Broken yellow lines allow passing on the left when clear, with extreme caution because you face oncoming traffic. A broken beside a solid yellow line allows passing only from the broken side. Double solid yellow lines forbid passing in either direction and may be crossed only to turn left. Broken white lines may be crossed with caution after signaling. Solid white lines mark turn lanes and prevent lane changes near intersections; a lane with a curved arrow and the word ONLY must turn that way, while a curved and a straight arrow together allow either. A bicycle painted on the road warns of bicyclists. The solid white line on the right edge is crossed only in an emergency or to avoid a hazard, and a solid white line may be crossed to enter or leave an HOV lane. A double solid white line between same-direction lanes may not be crossed. Single yellow lines may mark the left edge of divided highways and one-way streets. Reversible lanes, usually marked by double-dashed yellow lines, change direction by time of day; check the roadside or overhead signs first. On a one-way street for several blocks, stay in the center lane, since the side lanes serve turning vehicles. Painted curbs: white allows stopping only to pick up or drop off passengers, yellow only to load or unload while staying with the car, and red means no stopping, standing or parking.
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More of this guide
AZMVDNow.gov and third-party offices, license and ID fees by age, the 10-day name and address rule, veteran and Native American designations, the road test and its English directions, the $25,000/$50,000/$15,000 insurance minimums, the National Driver Register, who counts as a resident, voter registration and the 29-day rule, organ donation, license classes G, D, M, A, B and C, the instruction permit at 15½, the graduated license with its midnight-to-5 a.m. and one-passenger rules, 30 hours with 10 at night, teen penalties, parent signatures, Selective Service, the Travel ID and REAL ID, replacements, and the 15-day title rule.
Required equipment, tire pressure and the penny test, the front-seat belt law and under-16 rule, child restraints to age 5 and boosters to 4 feet 9 inches, air bags and children under 12, secured loads, brakes, mirrors at 200 feet, horns, defensive driving, the hand-held device ban, scanning one block ahead, the 3-to-6-second cushion, 3 feet for bicycles, blind spots, signaling 100 feet ahead, passing on the left and when you may pass on the right, no-passing rules within 100 feet, roundabouts at 15 to 20 mph, diverging diamonds, disabled parking, backing, parallel and hill parking, prohibited parking distances, freeway merging, the gore area and HOV lanes.
What right-of-way really means, T and uncontrolled intersections, yielding to pedestrians and stopping at school crossings, never passing a car stopped for a pedestrian, stopping before the sidewalk from a driveway, left turns and U-turns, red-light running and Traffic Survival School, the $500 and $1,000 crash penalties, yielding to emergency vehicles and following at 500 and 300 feet, the Move Over law, funeral processions, stopping for school buses and the divided-roadway exception, right and left turn lanes, the only left turn on red, the two-way left turn lane and METRO light rail rules.
The 3-foot rule and bicycle rules, motorcycle lane filtering at 45 and 15 mph, trucks that take twice as long to stop and the No-Zone, slow-moving vehicles at 25 mph, perception and reaction time, 3 and 6-second following distances, rural roads, wind, sun glare, dust storms and Pull Aside Stay Alive, rain, hydroplaning at 50 mph, flash floods and barricade liability, fog, snow and ice, headlights from sunset to sunrise and at 500 and 200 feet, highway hypnosis, wrong-way drivers, alcohol, marijuana and drugs, the open container law, zero tolerance under 21, aggressive driving penalties, emotions, medical reporting and drowsy driving.
Revocation and suspension, the $20 reinstatement fee and SR-22, 8 points in 12 months, the point schedule, Traffic Survival School triggers, vehicle impound, driving suspended, the 3-month, 6-month and 1-year no-insurance suspensions, failure to appear, nitrous oxide and altered licenses, implied consent, the 0.08 and 0.04 limits, test refusal for 12 or 24 months, DUI, extreme DUI and aggravated DUI jail, fines and revocations, the ignition interlock, hearings, blowouts, fires, overheating, steering, headlight and brake failures, avoiding rear-end and head-on crashes, skids, debris and animals, crash procedures, Quick Clearance, failure-to-stop penalties, traffic stop safety and the emergency kit.