A 3-minute lesson from the Vermont course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.
Traffic signals control the right-of-way and keep traffic flowing in an orderly way. Each color and each flashing mode has a legal meaning. So does a signal that's completely dark.
Traffic signal lights
Steady signals
Steady signals
Light
What you must do
Red
Stop before the stop line or crosswalk, whichever is first
Yellow
About to turn red; if too close to stop safely, go on
Green
Go if it's safe; if turning left, yield to oncoming
Right turns on a circular red light are usually allowed, but only after a complete stop, scanning the intersection and yielding to pedestrians and other vehicles. Some intersections have signs or symbols prohibiting right on red.
If a signal is dark, as in a power failure, stop as if there were stop signs in all directions. If a broken signal flashes yellow or red, obey that signal.
A storm knocks out power and the signal ahead is dark. Treat the intersection as an all-way stop: stop fully, yield to whoever arrived first, and go when it's your turn.
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.
Where must you stop for a steady red light?
Before the stop line or crosswalk, whichever comes first
Anywhere before the intersection
Only at the stop line, never a crosswalk
Past the crosswalk, at the corner
Answer: Before the stop line or crosswalk, whichever comes first
You must stop before reaching either the stop line or the crosswalk, whichever comes first.
