What does the Pennant Shaped Road Sign Mean?
Road Sign Shapes on Your DMV Test
Road signs in the United States come in 9 different shapes. Each shape displays a specific message: stop, yield, warning, guidance, etc.
If you haven’t done so already, take a few minutes and try to learn all road sign shapes for your knowledge test.
Are shapes really that important? Why should I bother to learn them?
First, questions about road sign shapes and colors often appear on your DMV test, and you want to pass that test to get your learner’s permit or full driver’s license. Don’t you?
For your future driving on our highways, it is also a great help if you can recognize road signs by their shape and color and understand their general meaning from a distance.
How Shapes and Colors Can Help
Let us take an example. You are on a long trip. You start feeling tired and want to pull over at the next rest area. Knowing the meaning of shapes and colors, you look for a blue rectangular sign on your right. It will likely alert you to a rest area.
Of all the road sign shapes, the pennant-shaped road sign is perhaps the most overlooked, and the one test takers are most likely to miss on a DMV test.
This sign is also an excellent example of when you can spot and understand information from a long distance by only recognizing the shape.
Results
Yes, that’s right!
Continue reading!
#1. Road signs with a three-sided pennant shape mark:
A yellow pennant-shaped sign marks the beginning of a no-passing zone. It supplements the black and white “Do Not Pass” sign. The yellow pennant-shaped sign is on the left side of the highway and faces the driver. The black and white “Do Not Pass” sign is posted on your right side.
What the Pennant Shaped Sign Means
The pennant-shaped sign is always yellow and always placed on the left side of the road. It has the text “No Passing Zone” and marks the beginning of an area where you cannot pass other vehicles on the left side of the road.
If you look over to the right-hand side of the road, you will see the black and white “Do Not Pass” sign. The two signs supplement each other.
In a no-passing zone, the pavement is also marked with a solid yellow line on the left of your lane.
Together, the signs and the pavement markings mean that you must stay on the right side of the road and not pass other vehicles.
Why are Two Signs Necessary?
The purpose of the yellow pennant-shaped sign is to make the no-passing zone more visible from a distance. With cars in front of you, it’s only sometimes possible to have a clear view and spot the black-and-white sign on your right.
The yellow pennant-shaped sign is posted on the left in areas where more emphasis is needed and typically where more accidents have occurred.
Can You Cross and Drive on the Left Side?
In a no-passing zone, you can generally not move over to the left side of the road.
Most states make an exception when an obstacle is on the right-hand side of the road. Slow-moving vehicles, such as bicycles, can be considered an obstacle in some states, but this is not the general rule. Stay behind unless you know it is legal and safe to pass.
It would be best to always use great caution before crossing the center line whenever an obstacle occurs. Your view of the road ahead is limited, and there may be an oncoming vehicle on the opposite side.
Left Turns across the Center Line
You can also cross the solid yellow line in a no-passing zone when you want to turn left into a driveway, private road, or alley.
But it is the same thing here, use great caution before driving across the center line.
Learn More
Pavement Markings and What They Mean
Road signs – Know the basic shapes
Work Sheet to Help You Study
What does a round road sign mean?
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