School Speed Limit When Flashing sign
Sets a lower speed limit that is only mandatory while the attached beacon is flashing, usually during arrival and dismissal times.
Federal designation S5-1 in the MUTCD, the national standard every state signs to. Mounted with a beacon programmed for specific times on school days, sometimes with a digital display instead of fixed amber lights.
How to recognise it
This sign is a tall rectangle in white, the standard background for a rule you must obey. The five sided pentagon is reserved for schools, and the fluorescent yellow green colour is used only for schools, pedestrians and bicycles. Speed limits here are usually enforced far more aggressively than elsewhere.
What the test wants you to know
The speed panel itself stays white and black like any ordinary regulatory sign, it is the separate beacon and often a small plaque above it that carry the fluorescent yellow green color. Exams like to ask what the limit is when the lights are off, and the answer is the regular posted road speed, not the lower school number.
Practise it
Reading about a sign is not the same as recognising it in half a second with an examiner watching. Every state road signs test on this site shows the sign and asks you to name it, then shows four faces and asks you to pick the right one.
School Bus Stop Ahead
End School Zone