Top 10 Questions – Divided Highway Signs

Two Signs That are Easy to Get Wrong on the DMV Written Test

4 out of 10 test takers mix up or misunderstand the meaning of these two divided highway signs on the DMV exam!

Look at the illustration above. Which sign tells you that there is a divided highway ahead? Which one tells you that the divided highway ends ahead?

Learn How to Spot the Difference

It is all about the universal language of road signs. On any warning sign like this, you are always traveling from the bottom of the sign and to the top.

To get them right at your real DMV written test, look at the divider or median on the sign. If it is located at the bottom, it means that you are leaving the divided highway where there was a divider between roadways (A). If the divider is located at the top of the sign, it means that you are leaving a road without a divider and approaching a divided road (B).

More on What Divided Highway Signs Mean

The Divided Highway Ends (A) is placed in advance of the end of a section of physically divided highway (not an intersection or junction) as a warning of two-way traffic ahead. You must keep to the right and watch for oncoming traffic.

The Divided Highway Ends (A) is placed where you approach a section of highway (not an intersection or junction) where traffic is separated by a median or other physical barrier. You will see a yellow solid line on the left road edge or by the left side of the barrier. If you see a yellow line on your right side, you are driving the wrong way!

Old Signs with Word Message

Old signs have the word message DIVIDED HIGHWAY or DIVIDED ROAD (DIVIDED HIGHWAY ENDS / DIVIDED ROAD ENDS). They may still be used as an alternative to the symbol sign.

Note that these signs don’t tell you that there will be more or fewer lanes ahead.