- Traffic signs are to driving
what instructions are to an IKEA cabinet;
only when things go wrong
do drivers pay attention to traffic signs.
However, traffic signs give you crucial information
about traffic patterns along the roadway,
what is going to happen,
and predictable actions of individual road users,
pedestrians, cyclists, cars, trucks, and buses
along the roadway.
So pay attention to the traffic signs,
read the traffic signs, take note of the information,
and know that there are three ways
that traffic signs convey information:
the shape of the sign, the colors,
and the symbols or text thereon.
If you can glean the information at a glance,
you will be a safer, smarter driver.
Read your road signs.
Stop sign.
This is a two-way stop sign,
distinguished from a three, four, or all-way stop sign
because it doesn't have the regulatory sign underneath
indicating that it is that kind of stop sign.
Come to a stop at the correct stopping position
behind the stop line, behind the crosswalk or sidewalk.
If those two conditions don't exist,
then at the edge of the road.
Give way to all of the road users on the cross traffic.
When the way is clear,
then you can proceed at the stop sign.
Yield sign, often found at slip lanes,
which are right turning lanes.
These are not found
at conventional intersections very often.
Often in kind of remote residential areas
and those types of things,
and entrances to freeways,
you'll find yield signs.
Give way to all of the road users,
pedestrians, cyclists, and whatnot,
and proceed when the way is clear.
30 miles an hour ahead.
Often this indicates that you're coming in off a highway
and you're entering a built up area, a village or a town,
and that traffic is going to start bunching up
and some people are going to brake
to try and get their speed down
because they're going too fast out on the highway,
and therefore you know
what the traffic pattern is going to do,
how it's going to change
as you're entering the city or town,
and that there is a space
between what the speed limit is on the highway,
whether it's 50 miles an hour, 60 miles an hour,
and the reduced speed limit inside the city.
There's going to be a transition area
where the traffic is going to bunch up.
Pass the island on the right.
There's going to be a concrete barrier
in the middle of the roadway,
and this is going to be accompanied
by a hazard obstruction sign that you can see here.
So know that you've got to pass to the right,
and traffic is going to be moving to the right.
And as they're changing direction,
the traffic is probably going to slow down
so you have a predictable traffic pattern
at that traffic island.
School in area sign.
It's a pentagon, it's five-sided, it looks like a house,
you know, the ones you used to draw in kindergarten,
and it's got two people on it,
and most of them are going to be neon yellow.
Some will be blue, the older ones.
But there will be a school in the area
on the roads where you're driving,
and you could encounter students and pedestrians
going to and from school.
So know those predictable traffic patterns.
Emergency vehicles,
often fire trucks exiting from firehouses.
If you hear the sirens,
be on the lookout for fire trucks
and know that emergency vehicles are pack animals.
If the fire trucks are coming out,
the ambulances and police are going to be close behind.
So if you have one emergency vehicle,
oftentimes you're going to have another one.
Know that you need to pull over
to the closest shoulder as soon as possible
and come to a stop until the emergency vehicle has passed.
If you're at an intersection waiting for a light
or stopped at a stop sign,
it might be best to just stay put
until the emergency vehicle passes.
Lane usage sign.
Two lanes are turning left at the same time.
Do not turn beside the other vehicles.
Try and turn in the spaces between the vehicles
in the other lane.
That way you can avoid a sideswipe crash
as you're moving through the intersection,
because oftentimes other drivers will veer out of their lane
or you have a larger vehicle
that has a lot of off-tracking
and the trailer could come into your lane.
So try and stay in front or behind other vehicles
as you're turning left and moving through the intersection.
No U-turns, often found at intersections
and other high-risk areas where a U-turn,
the vision of the driver is obstructed
and they don't want you to do a U-turn here
because it could risk a collision at the intersection.
Cautionary sign warning of sharp right turn
in the road ahead,
and giving you a recommended speed limit.
Again, the recommended speed limit
is for passenger vehicles,
not for CDL vehicles, semi trucks, and buses.
So you may need to reduce your speed even more
to navigate that curve safely.
Merge ahead.
Two lanes are going into one lane.
Know that the far right lane
is going to be moving into the left lane.
If you're in the left lane,
you're going to have to help them out by creating space,
letting off the throttle a little bit.
But know that at that juncture
where the two lanes go to one lane,
traffic is going to be slowing down.
Cautionary sign warning of bump in the road.
Traffic is going to be slowing
or weaving to the left or right, hopefully to the right.
So know that is going to be a predictable traffic pattern
at a bump in the road.
Cautionary grade sign, this is particularly important
for commercial drivers and those driving larger vehicles.
If the grade is 8%, that tells you that it's rise over run.
For every 100 feet that you go forward, the road drops 8%.
The higher the number, the steeper the hill.
And on some hills with steeper inclines, longer descents,
they're going to tell you how far that hill is too.
So take note of that,
and you may have to gear down to get down that hill safely.
Hazard obstruction sign
indicating that you need to pass to the right.
Hazard obstruction signs are the most prolific signs
along our roadways,
indicating whether you should pass right, pass left,
or either pass on the right or the left.
Think of a kettle of water pouring on top of the hash marks.
The way that the water pours off the hazard obstruction sign
or the hash marks is the side on which you pass.
Also found on the end of bridge abutments
and any other fixed object along the roadway
that you could potentially run into.
Railway crossing at a T intersection
with the railway crossing being back behind the main road
on which you're traveling.
Know that if there is a train on the tracks,
that there could be traffic backed up at the T intersection
and could cause you to have to slow down
or make preparations to be able to pass
to get around that traffic or those types of things.
So take note if there is a train on the tracks
and there's an intersection ahead
and that there could be stopped or slowed traffic
waiting to turn right at that corner.
Construction area with soft shoulders.
This is particularly important for CDL vehicles
because if you drop off into the soft shoulder,
you can potentially roll your vehicle over.
So know that if you're driving a larger vehicle,
stay off the soft shoulder.
If you do have to go into the soft shoulder
because sometimes when they detour you
through a construction area,
they're going to have pavement
and they're going to get you to drive onto the shoulder
of the road to get around
where they're doing the construction work,
so know that your traction is going to be compromised
and that your vehicle
is going to handle slightly differently.
And if you're driving a large vehicle
with a high center of gravity,
you're going to have to try
and keep it as much on the pavement as you can
or go slowly so that you avoid tipping the vehicle over.
Green light, go if the way is clear.
The key phrase there, if the way is clear.
Remember, the right of way is always given.
It's never taken.
If there's somebody in the intersection
or the intersection is backed up, do not proceed.
Yellow flashing light,
often found at a high-risk intersection
along a highway or a roadway,
and scan the intersection well
and proceed through the intersection.
School buses stopping along the roadway.
If you're traveling in the morning
between 7:00 and 9:00 in the morning,
or you're traveling in the afternoon along these roadways,
3:00 and on to 5:00,
you could encounter school buses.
You need to stop for school buses
when the amber and red lights are flashing
and the stop sign arm is out.
It is a huge, huge fine if you're caught
not stopping for a school bus
that's stopped with its lights activated.
Not to mention the really awful thing
of potentially running over a child
that's trying to exit the bus and get home safely.
Commercial vehicles, semi trucks, dump trucks,
those types of things often found in industrial areas.
Know that you're going to intersect with these vehicles,
and if they're pulling out in the roadway in front of you
they're going to be going slowly,
so you need to be prepared to slow down
to allow these larger vehicles to get up to speed
on the roadway.
Cautionary sign, giving you a recommended speed limit
to exit the highway that you're on or freeway/interstate,
and know that these are for passenger vehicles.
If you're driving a CDL vehicle, a commercial vehicle,
you need to get even slower than that
because this is a recommended speed for lighter vehicles.
So commercial vehicles, especially if you are in something
that's susceptible to tipping over,
get down to at least that recommended speed
until you become more familiar with the roadway.
That's the end of the lesson for traffic signs.
We'll see you in the next lesson.
Pass sign found on roadways, highways
where there's high risk,
oftentimes on blind corners
and places where your view
is going to be obstructed by obstructions.
It's going to be obstructed by...
Yeah, that's good. (crew laughing)
Obstructed by obstructions.
- [Crew] Wow. (laughs)
- There's the blooper, obstructed by obstructions.
Yes, that's excellent language, English.