Traffic Signals, Signs and Road Markings: Signal Colors and Arrows, Pedestrian Signals, Sign Shapes and Colors, Warning, Road Work, Guidance and Regulatory Signs, Road Markings, HOV Diamonds, Slow-Moving Vehicle Signs, Rumble Strips, Speed Humps and Roundabouts
Written for aiforu2 as the source for a practice-test bank and the on-device tutor for the New Jersey driver license knowledge test. The facts follow the official manual; the wording is ours.
Source: New Jersey Driver Manual (2025), New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC), chapter 11 "Appendix: Driver Safety" (pp. 211–223).
Traffic signals
Signals, signs and markings control traffic; a police officer may direct traffic and can overrule signals, and officers' orders must always be obeyed. Stealing or damaging traffic, airport or railroad signs brings court penalties. In a vertical signal red is on top, yellow in the center and green third, with any green arrow at the bottom; in a horizontal signal red is on the left.
- Red: stop before the intersection or crosswalk and stay until green.
- Yellow: stop before entering unless you are too close to stop safely; a yellow arrow means the arrow phase is ending.
- Green: proceed, yielding to pedestrians and vehicles still in the intersection and when turning; before turning left yield to approaching vehicles.
- Green arrow: alone or with a red signal, go only as the arrow shows, yielding to pedestrians.
- Flashing yellow: slow down and proceed with care.
- Flashing red: stop, yield to traffic and pedestrians, go when safe; at a railroad crossing it means a train is coming, and you go only when the lights stop and all warning devices deactivate.
- Unlit signal: treat it as a four-way stop; look left and right and yield.
Pedestrian signals: the orange steady raised palm means do not leave the sidewalk (anyone already in the crosswalk finishes); the white steady walking figure or countdown means pedestrians may cross, and turning drivers must yield to them. Push buttons extend the side street's green. Pedestrian and bicycle warning signs may be standard yellow or fluorescent yellow-green.
Sign shapes and colors
Signs fall into three categories: warning (hazards ahead that are hard to see), guidance (routes and destinations) and regulatory (speed and movement).
| Color | Shape | Sides | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | Vertical rectangle | 4 | Regulation, such as speed limits |
| Blue | Rectangle or square | 4 | Motorist services and information |
| Brown | Rectangle | 4 | Public recreation and scenic guidance |
| Green | Rectangle | 4 | Direction guidance |
| Orange | Diamond | 4 | Construction and maintenance warning |
| Red | Octagon | 8 | Stop signs only |
| Red | Triangle | 3 | Yield signs |
| Yellow | Pennant | 3 | No-passing warning |
| Yellow | Pentagon | 5 | School signs |
| White | X (crossbuck) | none | Railroad crossing |
| Yellow | Round | none | Railroad crossing advance warning |
| Yellow | Diamond | 4 | Roadway hazard and railroad warning |
When the safe speed for a curve is below the limit, an advisory speed plaque accompanies the warning sign. Warning signs are yellow diamonds with black symbols for road conditions, deer, railroad and school crossings and curves. Road work signs are orange diamonds warning of lane closings, shifts, flaggers, uneven pavement and detours, often with reduced speed limits; all fines are doubled in work zones, and a flagger has the authority of a regulatory sign. Guidance signs identify destinations and routes; motorist service signs are white on blue. Regulatory signs are vertical rectangles, black on white: the red octagon Stop; the white inverted triangle Yield with red border; the crossbuck, which means the same as a yield sign, since trains cannot swerve; and Do Not Enter, a red circle with a white band. Green truck route signs mark where trucks may travel and red ones where they are prohibited.
Road markings
Markings carry the force of law. Yellow center lines separate opposite directions; white lines separate same-direction lanes and mark road edges; dashed lines on your side allow passing when safe; a solid line on your side forbids it; road arrows with signs show the direction a lane must take; white dashed lines divide multi-lane highways; double solid yellow and white lines prohibit passing; with solid and dashed yellow together, pass only when the dashed line is on your side and finish before it turns solid; edge lines separate the shoulder from the travel lane, yellow on the left; white crosswalks mark pedestrian crossings, and where stop lines are missing you stop before the crosswalk; white stop lines show where to stop; white special markings such as STOP AHEAD, SCHOOL and R X R alert you; pavement markings, signs and crossbucks are passive warnings while flashing lights, bells and gates are active; and white diamonds mark HOV lanes reserved for buses or multi-occupant vehicles during posted hours.
Special devices
A fluorescent orange triangle on the back of farm and construction equipment marks a slow-moving vehicle. Rumble strips are indentations or raised strips that vibrate and hum to wake a drowsy driver or warn of a decision point ahead; they do no damage and usually come with a caution sign. Speed bumps are low ridges and speed humps longer, flatter, more raised versions, both to slow traffic. A roundabout is a one-way circular intersection around a center island serving drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists; because traffic enters and exits only by right turns, the left-turn conflicts of ordinary intersections disappear and severe crashes drop.
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