Slow moving vehicles — Illinois Permit Test

An orange slow-moving vehicle emblem must be on the rear of certain slow-moving farm vehicles, construction equipment and animal-drawn vehicles.

The emblem is the only warning you get that the thing ahead is doing 10 mph. Closing speed is what kills on rural roads.

An orange slow-moving vehicle emblem must be on the rear of certain slow-moving vehicles.

Normal speeds for slow-moving vehicles range from 5 to 20 mph, and the difference in speed sharply shortens the time it takes to reach one from behind.

Closing on a tractor at 55 mph feels like it is standing still because nearly it is. The gap disappears far faster than a driver expects.

Normal speeds for slow-moving vehicles range from 5-20 mph.

Slow-moving vehicles may make wide turns and may turn right or left at any time into unmarked entrances, so a driver should stay a safe distance back and pass only when it is safe.

A tractor turning into a field gives no warning and swings wide to do it. Passing at that moment is driving into the turn.

Slow-moving vehicles may make wide turns and may turn right or left at any time into unmarked entrances.

Where lights are required, a slow-moving vehicle must carry a flashing amber signal mounted as high as possible at the rear and visible for 500 feet in sunlight.

The emblem is useless after dark or in glare. The amber light is what carries the same warning when the reflector cannot.

When lights are required, a flashing amber signal must be mounted as high as possible on the rear of the vehicle. It must be visible for 500 feet in sunlight.

Slow-moving vehicles may be wider than the lane, so they sometimes have to move temporarily into an adjoining lane to get past roadside obstructions.

A combine is wider than the road it is on. Drifting into the next lane is not bad driving, it is the machine not fitting.

Slow-moving vehicles may be wider than the lane width, so it may be necessary for these vehicles to temporarily move into an adjoining lane to avoid roadside obstructions.

What must certain Illinois slow-moving vehicles display at the rear?

An orange slow-moving vehicle emblem. The emblem is the only warning you get that the thing ahead is doing 10 mph. Closing speed is what kills on rural roads. Illinois Rules of the Road 2026, p.46: “An orange slow-moving vehicle emblem must be on the rear of certain slow-moving vehicles.”