Required stops — Idaho Permit Test

You must stop for any flashing red indication; it is the same as a stop sign.

It is the one signal display that is not about timing at all, so treating it as a slow-down gets it wrong.

STOP for any flashing red indication; it is the same as a stop sign

You must stop for any steady red arrow indication, and may not turn at the red arrow until a green or yellow indication allows movement.

The arrow points at the turn it is forbidding, which is the part drivers read as permission.

STOP for any steady red arrow indication; it is the same as a stop sign

At a steady red circular indication you may turn right after stopping and yielding to cross-traffic, except where posted otherwise.

The stop has to be complete before the turn, because the yield is a decision made from a standstill.

You may turn right after stopping and yielding to cross-traffic except where posted otherwise

You may turn left onto a one-way street from a steady red light after stopping and yielding to cross-traffic, unless left turns are not allowed.

A one-way street has nothing coming the other way, which is what makes the left turn possible at all.

You may turn left onto a one- way street after stopping and yielding to cross-traffic unless left turns are not allowed

Where a green arrow is shown along with a steady red indication, you may proceed only in the direction of the green arrow.

The red is still a red for everything the arrow does not point at.

When a green arrow is shown along with a steady red indication, you may proceed only in the direction of the green arrow

You must stop or slow down at an intersection when necessary to yield right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing within a marked or unmarked crosswalk.

An unmarked crosswalk is still a crosswalk, and it exists at almost every intersection whether it is painted or not.

STOP or slow down at an intersection when necessary to yield right-of-way to a pedestrian crossing within a marked or unmarked crosswalk

You must stop at a railway crossing when a train is coming, or when wigwag or flashing signals, gates or a watchman indicate a train is approaching.

Any one of those is enough. Waiting to see the train yourself is waiting too long.

STOP at a railway crossing when a train is coming or when wigwag or flashing signals, gates, or a watchman indicate the approach of a train

You must stop when entering a street from an alley, building, driveway or private road, before crossing the sidewalk, and yield to pedestrians and traffic.

The sidewalk comes first and the street second, and a car that rolls across both has taken two rights of way.

Stop before crossing the sidewalk and yield to pedestrians and traffic

Idaho law requires you to stop when you are involved in a crash.

Driving on from a crash is its own offense, whatever happened before it and however small the damage looks.

STOP when you are involved in a crash

Once stopped for an emergency or police vehicle, you may also proceed when the police officer has indicated you may.

An officer directing traffic can see what you cannot, so their signal releases you as surely as the vehicle passing does.

or the police officer has indicated you may proceed

You must stop upon the request of any police officer, and you must stop when you are involved in a crash.

Both are legal duties rather than courtesies, and leaving a crash scene is its own offense.

STOP upon the request of any police officer

At a steady red where no turn is allowed, you wait until the indication turns green before proceeding.

The two turns Idaho allows on red are the exception. Everything else at a red light waits for green.

In all other cases, wait until the indication turns green before proceeding

What is a flashing red traffic indication the same as?

A stop sign. It is the one signal display that is not about timing at all, so treating it as a slow-down gets it wrong. July 2026 Idaho Driver's Handbook, p.69: “STOP for any flashing red indication; it is the same as a stop sign”