Texas DPS Signs and Speeds: 30 mph City Default, Not 25

Most Texas Class C misses are not “trick questions.” They are default speeds and sign shapes from the Texas Driver Handbook (DL-7). This page is a study sheet for the Texas DPS knowledge test. The sitting format — 30 questions, 21 to pass — is in the Class C guide.

Octagon = stop

Triangle = yield

Texas urban default

Default speeds when no sign is posted

Texas Transportation Code §545.352 sets prima facie limits. The test asks these more often than “what does a 75 mph interstate sign say.”

People who studied California or a national app often answer 25 mph for a city street. That is the wrong state’s number. Drill speed and following distance until 30 / 15 / 70 / 60 is automatic.

School zones are posted locally. There is no single statewide school-zone number. Obey the sign and any flashing beacon. Work-zone fines can be doubled when workers are present and warning signs are up — another DL-7 favourite.

The basic speed law still applies: even under a posted or statutory limit, a speed that is not reasonable for rain, fog or a school crossing is unlawful.

Following distance

The handbook’s study rule in good conditions is a two-second gap at 30 mph or below and a four-second gap above 30 mph. Pick a fixed object, start counting when the car ahead passes it, and do not reach it before the count ends. Wet roads and large trucks need more. The statute does not name “two seconds”; it requires an assured clear distance so you can stop without hitting the vehicle ahead.

Sign shapes that carry the answer

Pentagon = school

Round yellow = railroad

Do not enter

• Octagon — stop. Come to a full stop, then go when the way is clear.
• Inverted triangle — yield. Slow, stop if needed, and give way.
• Diamond — warning (curve, merge, slippery).
• Pentagon — school zone or school crossing.
• Round yellow — railroad advance warning.
• Red circle with a white bar — do not enter.

Open the traffic-signs topic and answer from the silhouette before you read the caption. That is how the computer test feels when you are tired.

Right-of-way, not “who is bigger”

At a four-way stop, the first vehicle to arrive goes first; if two arrive together, the one on the right goes. At an uncontrolled intersection the same “yield to the right” idea shows up. Emergency vehicles with lights and siren: pull to the right and stop. Pedestrians in a crosswalk have the right-of-way even when a light is about to change. Practise right-of-way as its own set.

How to study this week

1. Read DL-7 Chapter 2 (signs) and the speed chapter once, with a pen.
2. Do signs-only, then speed-only, in the Texas Class C bank.
3. Write the four default numbers on a card. If you still say 25, you are not ready.

Download the free DL-7 handbook. If a number on this page and the handbook disagree, follow DPS.