Highway flaggers — Tennessee Permit Test

Highway flaggers on the Tennessee permit test — 4 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

At most worksites, flaggers use paddles with STOP on one side and SLOW on the other.

The paddle side you see is your order. Reading SLOW as GO can send you into the work area too fast.

Flaggers, at most worksites, will be using paddles with the word stop on one side and slow on the other.

Tennessee Comprehensive Driver License Manual, p.39

Red flags are used by flaggers in emergency situations.

An emergency flagger may not have a paddle. You still have to know a red flag means pay attention and obey.

However red flags are used in emergency situations as shown below.

Tennessee Comprehensive Driver License Manual, p.39

The basic hand movements for stop and proceed are the same whether a flagger uses a flag or a paddle.

Once you learn the signals, you can read any flagger. You do not have to guess at a new set of moves.

The basic hand movements for stop and proceed remain the same, whether a flag or paddle is used.

Tennessee Comprehensive Driver License Manual, p.39

Flaggers, utility and construction workers and other emergency personnel may wear fluorescent yellow-green clothing in work zones, in addition to fluorescent orange.

Bright clothing helps you see a worker in rain or at dusk. Look for these colors so a person does not surprise you.

Flaggers along with utility workers, construction worker and other emergency personnel directing traffic, can also be seen wearing FLUORESCENT YELLOW-GREEN clothing, vests and hard helmets in these construction work zones.

Tennessee Comprehensive Driver License Manual, p.39

On the test

What do flaggers at most worksites hold?

A paddle reading STOP and SLOW. The paddle side you see is your order. Reading SLOW as GO can send you into the work area too fast. Tennessee Comprehensive Driver License Manual, p.39: “Flaggers, at most worksites, will be using paddles with the word stop on one side and slow on the other.”

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 Tennessee Comprehensive Driver License Manual, published by the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-10-03.