A flashing yellow traffic light means
- slow down and be prepared to stop ✓
- the light is about to change to red
- stop and proceed when the way is clear
- stop and wait for the light to change to green
Answer: A. slow down and be prepared to stop
A flashing yellow light means you slow down and be ready to stop if needed.
Why this is the answer
The handbook lists flashing yellow among the signal meanings and describes it as slowing down and proceeding with caution, so the light does not tell you to halt or to speed up. It fits with the general rule that yellow means caution and steady yellow means slow down and stop unless you cannot stop safely. Treating a flashing yellow as a caution signal is what matches the handbook: ease off, check the intersection and be ready to stop.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. the light is about to change to red — Nothing in the handbook says a flashing yellow warns that the light is about to turn red; it describes flashing yellow only as a caution signal.
- C. stop and proceed when the way is clear — A full stop followed by moving on when clear is what the handbook assigns to a flashing red light, not a flashing yellow.
- D. stop and wait for the light to change to green — Waiting at the light until it turns green is not what the handbook says for flashing yellow, which tells you to slow down and continue with caution.
Remember it
Yellow flashes mean caution, red flashes mean stop first, so a flashing yellow never asks for a full stop.