Signs, signals and pavement markings
A line of solid white triangles is painted across your lane as you approach an intersection, with the points aimed at you. What is it?
- A yield line: it shows where to yield or stop for traffic that has the right-of-way. Correct answer
- A limit line: it shows where you must come to a complete stop before the crosswalk.
- The edge of a safety zone where pedestrians wait for a bus or a streetcar.
Why
Triangles pointing at you are a yield line. The handbook describes it exactly that way: solid white triangles in a row, their points aimed at the traffic they are addressing, marking where those drivers give way or stop. That is a different instruction from a limit line, which is a wide white line marking where to stop before an intersection or a crosswalk. A safety zone is a third thing again: space set aside for people waiting for a bus, streetcar or trolley, marked by raised buttons or markers, and you never drive through one. Shape carries the meaning here, so it is worth reading the paint before you read the signs.
Where this comes from
California Driver's Handbook, June 2025 edition. The correct answer is A yield line: it shows where to yield or stop for traffic that has the right-of-way.
The rule behind this one
California road signs, signals and pavement markings goes through the whole topic, with the page of the California Driver's Handbook behind every rule.
More on signs, signals and pavement markings
- You are driving at night and the reflectors along the road ahead shine red in your headlights. What does that tell you?
- On a two-way road with only one lane going your direction, a single solid yellow line runs along your side of the center. May you pass the slow vehicle ahead?
- A single set of double solid yellow lines separates your side of a two-way street from oncoming traffic. When may you cross them?
- The yellow center line right next to your lane is broken rather than solid. What does that tell you?