Traffic signals — Illinois Permit Test

Traffic signals and pavement markings must be obeyed unless a police or traffic control officer directs otherwise, and a driver may never leave the roadway to avoid a signal.

A person directing traffic outranks the lights, and nothing else does. Driving through a parking lot to skip a red light is its own offense.

Traffic signals and pavement markings must be obeyed unless a police or traffic control officer directs otherwise. A driver may never leave the roadway to avoid a traffic signal.

At a steady red light a driver must stop at the marked stop line, or before the crosswalk, or before entering the intersection where there is neither, and may not go until the light is green and the intersection is clear.

Green alone is not enough: the intersection has to be empty as well. A car still crossing has the right of way over your green.

Red Light - Stop at the marked stop line. If there is no marked stop line, stop before entering the crosswalk. If there is no crosswalk, stop before entering the intersection. Do not go until the light is green and the intersection is clear.

A driver may turn right at a red light unless a sign prohibits it, and may turn left at a red light from a one-way street onto another one-way street with traffic moving to the left, after a complete stop and after yielding.

Both turns are allowed by default in Illinois, which is why the prohibiting sign matters. The stop comes first in either case.

You may turn right at a red light unless there is a sign prohibiting it. You also may turn left at a red light when turning from a one-way street onto another one-way street that has traffic moving to the left. In both instances, come to a complete stop and yield the right of way to oncoming traffic and pedestrians before turning.

A yellow light warns that the signal is changing from green to red, and a driver may not enter the intersection once the red light appears.

Yellow is a warning, not an invitation to hurry. The rule is about the red that follows it.

Yellow Light - The yellow light warns that the signal is changing from green to red. When the red light appears, do not enter the intersection.

At a green light a driver may go after yielding to any pedestrians and vehicles already in the intersection or the crosswalk.

Green means the light is yours, not the intersection. Whoever is already in it goes first.

Green Light - You may go after yielding the right of way to any pedestrians and vehicles in the intersection or crosswalk.

At a flashing red light a driver must stop, yield to traffic in the intersection or crosswalk, and go on when it is safe.

A flashing red is a stop sign made of light. It is used where the sign alone is hard to see, and at railroad crossings.

Flashing Red - You must stop, yield the right of way to traffic within the intersection or crosswalk, and proceed when safe.

A flashing yellow light means a driver may go into the intersection with caution.

It is the lightest instruction on any signal: slow down and look. Treating it as a green is how people get hit at it.

Flashing Yellow - Proceed into the intersection with caution.

Where traffic control signals are not working a driver must treat the intersection as an all-way stop, coming to a complete stop and then yielding before entering, unless law enforcement directs otherwise.

A dead signal is the most dangerous kind, because nobody knows whose turn it is. Treating it as an all-way stop gives everyone the same rule.

When traffic control signals are not working, you must always treat the intersection as an all-way stop by coming to a complete stop, unless directed otherwise by law enforcement. You must then look and yield the right of way before entering an intersection.

Who may direct an Illinois driver to disobey a traffic signal?

A police or traffic control officer. A person directing traffic outranks the lights, and nothing else does. Driving through a parking lot to skip a red light is its own offense. Illinois Rules of the Road 2026, p.77: “Traffic signals and pavement markings must be obeyed unless a police or traffic control officer directs otherwise. A driver may never leave the roadway to avoid a traffic signal.”