Regulatory signs — Virginia Permit Test

Regulatory signs on the Virginia permit test — 10 rules, each with the reason behind it and a question on it while it is fresh.

The rules

A speed limit sign gives the fastest you may legally drive on that road in good weather. You may drive slower, but never faster.

The number is set for a dry road in daylight, so in rain or at night the legal limit is still too fast for the conditions.

This sign means you cannot drive in that direction. If you pass it you are going the wrong way and may meet traffic head-on.

The lanes past this sign carry cars straight at you, and a head-on crash adds both speeds together.

If you see this sign facing you, you are driving against traffic. Slow down at once, pull over and turn around carefully.

This sign is the last chance to catch a wrong-way entry, and the cars you would meet are traveling at highway speed.

This sign means traffic flows only in the direction of the arrow. Turning against it puts you into oncoming lanes.

A street marked this way has no lane coming back at you, so every car on it is going one way and none of them expect you.

This sign makes left turns against the law at that place. In Virginia a U-turn counts as two left turns, so a U-turn is banned there too.

Turning across traffic is where drivers misjudge the gap, and this sign marks the places where the sight lines make it worst.

This sign makes right turns against the law at that place. Continue through and turn at somewhere the turn is allowed.

A banned turn is usually banned because a driver making it cannot see what is coming around the corner.

This sign makes a U-turn against the law at that place. Drive on and turn where a U-turn is allowed.

A U-turn puts you sideways across every lane at once, which is why it is banned where traffic arrives fast or blind.

Where this sign is posted you may not turn while the light is stopping you. Wait for the light to change before you go.

These places have a crosswalk or a blind corner that a turning driver cannot check while watching for a gap.

This sign marks the start of a no-passing zone. You may not pass the car ahead of you in your lane, even when the way looks clear.

The zone starts where the view runs out, so the road looks clear exactly because you cannot see far enough down it.

This sign warns of a traffic island, median or barrier ahead. Keep to the side the arrow points to.

A median in the road is a solid object at the speed you are already doing, and the arrow is the only warning of which side is open.

On the test

What does the number on this sign tell a driver?

The fastest you may legally drive here. The number is set for a dry road in daylight, so in rain or at night the legal limit is still too fast for the conditions.

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 Virginia Driver’s Manual, published by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, and against the state code itself. Last checked 2026-09-02.