Tennessee Road Signs Cheat Sheet.
The night-before summary, built like the exam.

The numbers to remember

• 30 questions total on the test.
• 80% minimum score required to pass — miss more than a handful and you're at risk.
• Traffic signs and signals are tested as their own dedicated category, alongside safe driving, rules of the road, and drugs & alcohol.
• With only 30 questions on the whole test, each one carries real weight toward your score, so treat every category as high-stakes, not just the parts that feel hardest.

Sign shapes at a glance

• Octagon = stop. It's the only sign this shape, so recognize it instantly.
• Downward triangle = yield.
• Diamond = warning about upcoming road conditions, such as curves, hills, or crossings.
• Pentagon = school zone / crossing.
• Circle = railroad crossing.
• Rectangle = regulatory instruction or a guide/information sign, depending on color.
• Red = stop, yield, prohibition. Yellow = general warning. Orange = construction/work zone. Green = guide/directions. Blue = services like gas, food, or hospitals. White = regulatory (speed limits, one-way, etc.).

Right-of-way in one breath

• First to arrive at a stop, first to go; ties go to the vehicle on the right.
• Left turns yield to oncoming traffic and pedestrians.
• Pedestrians in any crosswalk, marked or not, have the right-of-way.
• Emergency vehicles with lights/siren always get the right-of-way — pull right and stop.
• Merging traffic yields to traffic already in the lane.
• In a roundabout, vehicles already circulating have the right-of-way over vehicles entering.

Top traps

• Posted speed limits are maximums for ideal conditions — the safer, slower answer is usually correct in rain, fog, or work zones.
• Increase following distance in poor conditions and at night; don't assume the posted limit alone answers the question.
• Impairment from alcohol or drugs affects judgment even when you feel fine — the correct answer is almost always "don't drive."
• Implied consent means driving on public roads generally means agreeing to chemical testing if lawfully suspected of impairment; refusing carries its own penalty separate from an impairment charge.
• Mixing alcohol with certain medications can amplify impairment beyond what either substance causes alone.
• Don't skip sign-shape review the night before — it's the fastest category to lose easy points on if it's gone stale, and it's worth a full quarter of the test on its own.