North Carolina driving lesson · Signals, Signs & Pavement Markings
Sign shapes & regulatory signs
A 3-minute lesson from the North Carolina course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.
Shape and color let you recognize a sign at a glance, even before you can read it. Signs come in three types: regulatory, warning and guide/informational. Regulatory signs state laws you must obey.
When a sign or signal requires you to stop, stop at the marked stop line. With no stop line or crosswalk, stop before entering the intersection where you can see the intersecting street.
Rectangular and square regulatory signs are normally black and white or red and white, with messages like NO U-TURN or KEEP RIGHT EXCEPT TO PASS. Disobeying them is unsafe and illegal.
You approach a yield sign at a busy cross street. You don't have to stop if the street is clear, but you must slow down, and if cars are coming, stop and wait for them to pass.
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.
Which shape is used exclusively for the stop sign?
