Signs are the section of the Texas exam you can make close to perfect in one evening, and that matters more here than in most states — because DPS publishes the pass mark but not the question count, you cannot work out how many mistakes you can afford.
Our questions describe signs in words instead of showing pictures. Identify one from its shape, color and purpose without seeing it and you have learned the system rather than a set of images.
This quiz runs to 25 questions and scores at 70 percent, which is 18. The length is ours; the bar comes from the Texas Driver Handbook.
Texas Road Signs Test
Shape and color, the way the handbook sets them out
The Texas Driver Handbook gives shapes and colors as two tables. Learn them and you can read a sign you have never seen, or one whose face is dirty, faded or partly obscured.
Shapes
- Octagon — stop, and nothing else
- Equilateral triangle — yield
- Pennant, on the left — advance warning of a no passing zone
- Diamond — a hazard on or beside the road
- Pentagon — school building, zone or crossing
- Round — advance warning of a railroad crossing
- Crossbuck — the crossing itself
- Rectangle — regulatory and guide signs alike, so read the color
Colors
- Red — stop, prohibition, negative commands
- White with black text — a statement of law
- Yellow — general warning
- Orange — construction and maintenance
- Green — guidance, destinations and distances
- Blue — motorist services
- Brown — public recreation and scenic or cultural sites
Three Texas details worth carrying in
- Left on red is legal in one situation. Both the street you are on and the one you are entering must be one way, and no sign may prohibit it. Stop first, then yield
- The alley limit is 15 mph. Transportation Code 545.352 sets 30 mph for urban district streets and 15 for alleys, and both are prima facie limits — exceeding one is evidence your speed was unreasonable rather than an offense on its own
- Move over or slow down for a stopped emergency vehicle: 20 mph below the posted limit where that limit is 25 mph or more, and under 5 mph where it is below 25
Why our length and the state’s pass mark
The Texas Driver Handbook states that you must score 70 percent or better to pass any knowledge exam. It never states how many questions that percentage is out of, which is why the widely repeated “21 correct” is arithmetic on an unpublished number.
So this quiz uses 25 questions and scores at 70 percent, which is 18. The length is our choice and we label it as such; the bar is the state’s.
Next steps
Signs reward a short focused effort more than any other section, and in Texas that is worth extra because you cannot calculate your margin for error in advance. Once you are consistently above 22 out of 25 here, move to the full Texas practice test, which covers right of way, railroad and school bus law, insurance minimums, equipment standards and the two GDL phases. Every figure is collected on the Texas cheat sheet, and the licensing process is on the Texas permit guide.
Disclaimer: Pass The Permit is an independent study resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Texas Department of Public Safety or any government agency. Our questions are original practice material, not real exam questions, and our 25-question format is our own — only the 70 percent pass mark comes from the state. Always confirm current requirements against the official Texas Driver Handbook (DL-7).