Driver's License Test Prep
US Road Signs Construction Signs

You pass a Flagger Ahead sign and enter the work zone. A flagger in the zone waves you through the intersection while the traffic light ahead shows red. What are you required to do?

Orange diamond-shaped warning sign with a black border showing the black silhouette of a worker holding out a signal paddle on a pole.
  1. A.
    Stop for the red light; the traffic light has final authority.
  2. B.
    Follow the flagger's signal and proceed through the intersection. Correct
  3. C.
    Stop and wait until the signal turns green, then proceed.
  4. D.
    Proceed only if the flagger and the signal both permit it.
The Why

The answer is "Follow the flagger's signal and proceed through the intersection."

A flagger's directions legally override even a traffic light, so when the flagger in the work zone waves you through, you drive past the red. Drivers who stop for the red anyway fall back on the everyday rule that a steady red is always absolute, and miss that the orange diamond warned of a flagger whose directions now outrank the light.

Why the others miss

The traps in the wrong answers

A. Stop for the red light; the traffic light has final authority.

The flagger's directions legally override the signal, so obeying the light instead of the wave disobeys the person legally in charge of traffic in the work zone. Applies the everyday rule that a steady red is always absolute, missing that the orange diamond warned of a flagger whose directions outrank the light.

C. Stop and wait until the signal turns green, then proceed.

The flagger's wave sends you through on red, so waiting for green idles you against the traffic plan the flagger is running. Treats signal color as the only cue that decides when to move, a habit built for ordinary intersections where no flagger has been posted to take over the light.

D. Proceed only if the flagger and the signal both permit it.

The flagger alone carries the authority to send you through, so the wave is enough even when the signal shows red. Treats the flagger and the signal as co-equal authorities that must both agree, the same doubled-up caution that would wait for a red arrow even when a police officer is waving traffic through.

The Rule

This question tests your knowledge of Construction Signs on the roads of every US state . Source: Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, sign W20-7 (Flagger Ahead)..

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