MUTCD R3-8L · Regulatory signs
Post-mounted sign showing the configuration of all lanes ahead so you can pick the right one in time
What it means
Post-mounted sign showing the configuration of all lanes ahead so you can pick the right one in time
What to do about it
It is a regulatory sign: regulatory signs tell you what the law requires here, and ignoring one is a violation, not a judgment call. (MUTCD R3-8L.)
Practice this on the real test format
Signs are the part of the DMV written test people fail on, because reading them is a skill rather than a fact to memorize. Aprobify drills all 1034 of them, and tells you why each answer is what it is.
Get the appSign designations follow the MUTCD and the California MUTCD published by Caltrans; meanings are checked against the California Driver's Handbook (DL 600, rev. 6/2025). Edited by Fernando Aguilera. Aprobify is not affiliated with the California DMV.
Signs in the same family
These sit next to it in the regulatory signs series — the ones most easily mixed up with it.
- R3-7R The right lane must turn right
- R3-8aL Advance lane control for approaches with three or more lanes. With three or more lanes these signs are post-mounted, never overhead
- R3-8aR Advance lane control for approaches with three or more lanes
- R3-8b Advance lane control variant showing the permitted movement from each lane ahead
- R3-8R Layout of every lane on the approach ahead
- R3-9a Overhead sign for the shared centre lane used by traffic in both directions to make left turns. It is not a travel lane or a passing lane
