Work zone devices — Montana Permit Test

Most signs in Montana work areas are diamond shaped; a few are rectangular.

Spotting the shape early tells you to watch for a lane shift or workers even before you read it.

Most signs in work areas are diamond shaped.

At night, work-zone barricades, drums, cones and panels are often fitted with flashing or steady burning lights.

A dark drum in the lane at night is hard to see until your headlights are right on it.

At night these devices are often equipped with flashing or steady burning lights.

On a work-zone barricade or panel, stripes sloping downward to the right mean bear to the right; sloping down to the left means bear left.

Reading the stripes wrong steers you toward the closed lane and the workers in it.

Stripes sloping downward to the right mean the driver should bear to the right.

Large flashing or sequencing arrow panels in work zones guide drivers into certain lanes and show that part of the road ahead is closed.

A driver who ignores the arrow stays in a lane that ends at a crew and their equipment.

Large flashing or sequencing arrow panels may be used in work zones both day and night to guide drivers into certain traffic lanes and to inform them that part of the road or street ahead is closed.

Work-zone flaggers wear orange vests, shirts or jackets and direct traffic with red flags or stop/slow paddles.

A driver who does not know the flagger's signals may roll forward into a lane of oncoming cars.

Flaggers wear orange vests, shirts, or jackets and use red flags or stop/slow paddles to direct traffic through work zones.

What shape are most signs in a work area?

Diamond. Spotting the shape early tells you to watch for a lane shift or workers even before you read it. Montana Driver Manual, p.27: “Most signs in work areas are diamond shaped.”