A 3-minute lesson from the Massachusetts course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.
Traffic signs control traffic, warn you of hazards, help you find your way and point out roadway services. Learn their colors and shapes so you can recognize a sign from a distance, before you can read it.
Guide signs include route markers, distance and destination signs, and informational signs. Green signs give highway directions and guide you through interchanges; blue signs list services like gas, food and lodging; brown signs point to public recreation areas, parks, points of interest and scenic sites.
In Massachusetts, numbered state highway routes are posted on white rectangular signs with black letters and borders. Interstate highway signs are blue, red and white shields.
Interstate highway route markerMassachusetts state highway route markerGreen freeway interchange (destination direction) signBlue motorist service sign: gas
Know the rule
Other guide signs in the manual include junction signs, notice of highway exits in miles, highway mile markers, rest area and parking signs, bike route signs, and "electronic tolling only" signs.
Far ahead you see an orange diamond sign you can't read yet. Its color alone tells you there's construction or maintenance ahead, so slow down and get ready for workers, lane shifts or a flagger.
Check your understanding
Read the question, decide on an answer, then open it to check the explanation. These are Roadwise study questions based on the source handbook.
