Your knowledge of road signs and pavement markings must be exceptional, to pass the Virginia DMV permit test. On this page, we have organised every road sign and pavement marking you are expected to know into five manageable categories. This information has been taken from the 2024 VA driver’s handbook, so we can guarantee it is complete and accurate. If you want to make absolutely certain you can pass the road signs section of the permit test during the first attempt, we suggest splitting your study time between the driver’s handbook, the resources on this page and our dedicated road signs DMV practice test for Virginia learners.

The VA DMV written test places a great deal of importance on road signs and pavement markings, as failing to recognize a sign could create an extremely dangerous driving situation. Road signs exist to warn road users of impending hazards, assist with navigation, protect construction workers in road work zones and enforce the rules of the road. Misinterpreting a road sign could mean you drive the wrong way onto an expressway, approach a sharp bend in the roadway too quickly, or run out of gas in an unfamiliar area. Pavement markings are equally important, as they tell motorists where they can and cannot drive and provide information about how different lanes should be used. Without them, driving through intersections or on busy multi-lane roadways would be chaos. As familiarity with road signs and pavement markings is extremely important for novice drivers, you must answer every road sign and marking question on the Virginia DMV permit test correctly, to achieve a learner’s permit.

Of the 35 questions on the DMV written test, ten are reserved exclusively for road signs and pavement markings. Answering even a single question from this section incorrectly will mean that you must re-sit the entire test, including the section on rules of the road. Some of the permit test questions will present an image of a road sign and ask you to choose the correct meaning from a multiple-choice list, while others will present a meaning and ask you to select the appropriate sign. All the road signs which could come up are listed on this page and sorted into categories according to their general function. As you can see, regulatory signs are generally black and white rectangles, warning signs are yellow diamonds, work zone signs are orange and guide signs are blue and green. Learning to identify the general meaning of a road sign based on its shape and color will help you during the VA permit test and when you’re practicing your driving skills on public roadways. Find more hints and tips on identifying road signs and pavement markings in our free driver’s education course for Virginia applicants.

Ultimately, the best way to ensure you can answer all ten road signs questions correctly during the permit test is to spend as much time working on authentic DMV practice test questions as possible. You will find plenty of VA permit practice test quizzes here on ePermitTest.com to assist you with this task, many of which contain genuine permit test questions taken from real-life exam papers. While you are getting to grips with road signs and pavement markings, we suggest working with our dedicated road signs DMV written practice test. As the exam draws closer, you can start working on our mixed-question road rule and road sign quizzes, which offer a more realistic exam experience.

Talk to us! Let us know how we did!