Flashing signals and beacons — Massachusetts Permit Test

A flashing red circle means the same as a STOP sign: come to a complete stop and proceed when it is safe.

It is a stop sign made of light. Treating it as a yield is how drivers arrive in the intersection together.

A flashing red circle means the same as a STOP sign.

At a flashing red circle with no stop line or crosswalk line, stop as close to the intersection as you need to see traffic in both directions.

The point of the stop is the look. Stopping where you cannot see both ways has not done the job.

If there are no lines, you must stop as close to the intersection as needed to see traffic in both directions.

A flashing yellow circle is a warning to proceed with caution, stay alert, and look both ways.

It gives you the intersection without clearing it. The warning is that something here is worth slowing for.

A flashing yellow circle is a warning. Proceed with caution, and stay alert.

A flashing yellow arrow allows you to turn in the direction of the arrow when oncoming traffic has a green light and there is a break in traffic.

It is a permissive turn rather than a protected one. Judging the gap is the driver's job, not the signal's.

You must carefully determine that there is an adequate gap in the oncoming traffic and ensure that there are no pedestrians in your path before making your turn.

If traffic signals are blacked out and not working, proceed as though there is a stop sign in all directions.

Nobody has the right-of-way when the lights are dead. Treating it as a four-way stop is the only rule everybody can follow.

If signals are blacked out and not functioning, be cautious and proceed as though there is a stop sign in all directions.

You must stop for pedestrians when a Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon is flashing.

The beacon is switched on by the person waiting to cross. Amber lights flashing in an irregular pattern is the signal to stop.

You must stop for pedestrians when the beacon is flashing.

At a Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon, two solid red lights mean stop for pedestrians and two flashing red lights mean stop and then proceed with caution if clear.

The two red states are different instructions. Flashing red is a stop sign; solid red is a red light.

When the top two red lights are flashing, you must stop and proceed with caution if clear.

At a Pedestrian Hybrid Beacon, a flashing bottom yellow light means slow down and a solid bottom yellow means prepare to stop.

Flashing is the early warning and solid is the last one. The beacon is walking you through a stop before it asks for one.

When the bottom yellow light is solid, you must prepare to stop.

Bicycle signals display steady red, yellow, and green bicycle symbols and let bicyclists cross while motor vehicles are stopped.

Giving riders their own phase keeps them out of the path of turning vehicles, which is where most of these crashes happen.

When the signal is green, bicyclists can go through busy intersections while motor vehicles are stopped, protecting them from turning vehicles.

What does a flashing red circle mean?

The same as a STOP sign. It is a stop sign made of light. Treating it as a yield is how drivers arrive in the intersection together. Massachusetts Driver's Manual, p.81: “A flashing red circle means the same as a STOP sign.”