Driver's License Test Prep
US Road Signs Warning Signs

What should you do when you approach this Pedestrian Crossing sign?

Fluorescent yellow-green diamond with a black silhouette of a person walking left to right.
  1. A.
    Reduce speed and be ready to yield to pedestrians crossing the roadway ahead. Correct
  2. B.
    Come to a full stop at the sign before continuing through the area.
  3. C.
    Pass the vehicle stopped at the crosswalk if no pedestrian is visible from your lane.
  4. D.
    Slow only when school-aged children are present in the crossing area.
The Why

The answer is "Reduce speed and be ready to yield to pedestrians crossing the roadway ahead."

The yellow-green diamond warns that pedestrians may enter the roadway ahead, so slow down and be ready to yield to anyone stepping into or already in the crosswalk. Drivers who fall back on the red-octagon habit of halting at every serious-looking sign pick the come-to-a-full-stop answer instead.

Why the others miss

The traps in the wrong answers

B. Come to a full stop at the sign before continuing through the area.

A yellow warning diamond calls for slowing and readiness, not a halt at the sign itself. This answer applies the halt commanded by a red stop-sign octagon to a yellow warning diamond that only signals possible activity ahead.

C. Pass the vehicle stopped at the crosswalk if no pedestrian is visible from your lane.

Passing a vehicle stopped at a crosswalk is unsafe, because that driver may be yielding to a pedestrian the passing driver cannot yet see from the next lane. This answer assumes a clear sightline from one lane rules out a pedestrian the stopped driver is already yielding to, ignoring the multiple-threat hazard a stopped vehicle creates.

D. Slow only when school-aged children are present in the crossing area.

The W11-2 diamond covers any pedestrian, and school children are the subject of a separate fluorescent yellow-green pentagon crossing sign. This answer narrows a general pedestrian warning down to school children, whose crossings are marked by the separate pentagon school crossing assembly.

The Rule

This question tests your knowledge of Warning Signs on the roads of every US state . Source: Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices, sign W11-2 (Pedestrian Crossing)..

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