Traffic signals — New York Permit Test
Traffic signals on the New York permit test — 6 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.
The rules
If the traffic lights or controls at an intersection are out of service or do not operate correctly, a driver must come to a stop as they would for a stop sign.
A dead light is not a free crossing. Everybody stops, then the usual rules decide.
State law requires that if the traffic lights or controls are out of service or do not operate correctly when you approach an intersection, you must come to a stop as you would for a stop sign.
A steady red light means stop, and a driver may not go until the light is green.
Red is the whole stop. The crossing belongs to somebody else until the light changes.
Here is what different traffic lights indicate: STEADY RED: Stop. Do not go until the light is green.
A flashing red light means the same as a stop sign: stop, yield the right-of-way, and go when it is safe.
It is a stop sign made of light. A driver stops, looks, then goes when it is clear.
Means the same as a STOP sign: Stop, yield the right-of-way, and go when it is safe.
A steady yellow light means be prepared to stop, because the traffic signal is about to turn red.
Yellow is the last of the green rather than the first of the red. It is time to stop.
Be prepared to stop. A steady yellow light means the traffic signal is about to turn red.
A flashing yellow light means drive with caution.
Nobody has to stop, so nobody expects a stop. A driver slows and looks instead.
FLASHING YELLOW: Drive with caution.
A steady green light means go, but a driver must yield the right-of-way to other traffic at the intersection as required by law.
Green is permission rather than a clear road. A car already in the box goes first.
STEADY GREEN: Go, but yield the right-of-way to other traffic at the intersection as required by law (see Chapter 5).
On the test
What must a driver do where the traffic lights are out of service?
Stop as they would for a stop sign. A dead light is not a free crossing. Everybody stops, then the usual rules decide. New York State Driver's Manual, p.30: “State law requires that if the traffic lights or controls are out of service or do not operate correctly when you approach an intersection, you must come to a stop as you would for a stop sign.”
How this works
Most practice tests hand you a bank of questions and leave the manual somewhere else. This one puts them together.
You read one law and the reason behind it, then answer a question on that law while it is still fresh. Get it right and you move on; get it wrong and you have found the gap while it is cheap to fix, not on the morning of the exam.
Learning one rule at a time, and proving it immediately, is what turns a manual you skimmed into something you actually know — and it makes studying feel like getting somewhere rather than like waiting to find out.
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Where these come from
Every rule here is checked against New York State Driver's Manual, published by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-15.