Driver's License Test Prep
US Road Signs Guide Signs

What does this sign tell you about the facility ahead?

Blue square sign with a white six-pointed Star of Life symbol enclosing a staff and serpent
  1. A.
    A full-service hospital with a 24-hour emergency room.
  2. B.
    Emergency medical care at a facility short of a full hospital. Correct
  3. C.
    A highway rest area with restrooms and vending.
  4. D.
    A 24-hour pharmacy for prescription refills.
The Why

The answer is "Emergency medical care at a facility short of a full hospital."

This blue sign carries a white Star of Life and marks emergency medical services ahead. It is used where medical help is available but the facility is not a full hospital, such as an ambulance station, an urgent care facility, or a trauma center. Supplemental plaques below the sign name the specific type of care offered. Drivers who reach for the hospital answer read the Star of Life as if it were the H that marks a full hospital, mixing two symbols because both belong to the same blue services family.

Why the others miss

The traps in the wrong answers

A. A full-service hospital with a 24-hour emergency room.

A full-service hospital is marked by the separate blue services sign that carries a white H, not by the Star of Life shown on this device. Treats every blue medical sign as pointing to a hospital because the H sign and the Star of Life sign both belong to the same services family.

C. A highway rest area with restrooms and vending.

Rest areas carry their own blue services sign and never use the Star of Life shown here. Sorts every blue services sign into one bin instead of reading the specific symbol printed inside each one.

D. A 24-hour pharmacy for prescription refills.

A pharmacy is a separate service and is not what the Star of Life marks; that symbol identifies emergency medical care only. Assumes any medical-adjacent symbol on a blue services sign must cover routine medical services like filling prescriptions.

The Rule

This question tests your knowledge of Guide Signs on the roads of every US state . Source: Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, sign D9-13 (Emergency Medical Services)..

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