Driver's License Test Prep
US Road Signs Warning Signs

What does this yellow-green pentagon sign tell you about the road ahead?

Fluorescent yellow-green upward-pointing pentagon sign with a black silhouette of two children walking to the left, the taller one carrying a bag
  1. A.
    A school zone or school crossing is ahead; slow down and watch for children. Correct
  2. B.
    A pedestrian crosswalk is ahead; yield to any pedestrian already in the road.
  3. C.
    You are entering a school speed zone; the reduced limit applies whenever you see this sign.
  4. D.
    A stopped school bus with flashing lights is ahead; prepare to stop until the lights go off.
The Why

The answer is "A school zone or school crossing is ahead; slow down and watch for children."

The pentagon shape and fluorescent yellow-green color mark the school advance warning: a school zone or a school crossing is ahead, so slow down and watch for children stepping into the road. The trap is the plain pedestrian-crosswalk reading. Fluorescent yellow-green is also used on general pedestrian warnings, so a driver who keys on color alone and skips over the pentagon outline reaches for the crosswalk answer, when the five-sided shape is reserved for schools.

Why the others miss

The traps in the wrong answers

B. A pedestrian crosswalk is ahead; yield to any pedestrian already in the road.

The general pedestrian crossing warning is a diamond, and this pentagon is set aside for schools specifically rather than every crosswalk. This answer keys on the fluorescent yellow-green color and treats every sign in that color as a plain pedestrian warning.

C. You are entering a school speed zone; the reduced limit applies whenever you see this sign.

This is a warning sign only; a school speed limit is posted on a separate speed-limit sign at the point where the reduced limit begins. Learned that school signs slow you down and skipped which sign actually posts the number.

D. A stopped school bus with flashing lights is ahead; prepare to stop until the lights go off.

A stopped school bus is signaled by its own red flashers on the bus, not by a roadside pentagon posted in advance. This answer grabs the word school and answers with the school-bus rule studied the night before.

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 S1-1 (School Advance Warning)..

More from this topic

Related questions

Free study plan

A free knowledge-test study plan

Pick your state and we'll send a short run of study emails for that test. The printable cheat sheet is free to grab either way.

One email a few times a month. No spam, unsubscribe anytime. Privacy.