What are the traffic police hand signals for Subject One?
5 Answers
Subject One traffic police hand signals include: Stop signal: The traffic police officer extends their left arm forward and upward, palm facing forward, indicating vehicles in the direction the officer is facing to stop. Go straight signal: The traffic police officer extends the left arm horizontally while turning the head to the left, palm facing forward; simultaneously extends the right arm horizontally while turning the head to the right, palm facing forward, and swings it to the left, indicating vehicles on the right to proceed straight. Right turn signal: The traffic police officer extends the left arm forward, palm facing forward, indicating vehicles directly ahead to stop; then turns the head to the right, with the right arm and palm swinging straight to the left front, palm facing left, indicating vehicles to make a right turn. Left turn waiting signal: The traffic police officer extends the left arm downward, palm facing down; turns the head to the left, while the left arm and palm swing straight downward, indicating vehicles on the left side to enter the intersection, approach the center of the intersection along the left turn direction, and wait for the left turn signal.
When I was taking my driver's license test, the most headache-inducing part of Subject 1 was the traffic police hand signals. There were mainly eight to memorize: the stop signal is like the traffic police raising their left hand to block the front of the car; the go straight signal is when both arms are extended and the right arm swings to the left; for a left turn, the traffic police will raise their right hand horizontally and swing their left hand left and right to indicate the direction; the right turn is the opposite, with the left hand extended and the right hand swinging. There are also signals for waiting to turn left, changing lanes, and slowing down, such as the slow-down signal where the right arm swings diagonally downward, as if telling you to drive slower. During the test, I always mixed up the left turn waiting signal with the right turn signal. Later, I realized that the waiting to turn signal involves the left arm swinging diagonally downward, which is completely different from the angle of the turning signals.
Last year, I just passed the written test for the driver's license, and I remember there were eight must-know traffic police hand signals. The stop signal is the most noticeable, with the officer raising one hand high like hitting a pause button; for the go-straight signal, you need to see which way the arm swings after extending horizontally; the key to turn signals is to see which hand is extended first—for a right turn, the left hand is extended first, and for a left turn, the right hand is extended first. The other four signals also have their own characteristics: the left-turn waiting signal involves pressing the left arm downward at a 45-degree angle like a beckoning cat; the lane-change signal features the right arm extending horizontally and swaying left and right like fanning; the deceleration signal involves the right arm swinging diagonally downward; and the pull-over signal is the most complex, with one arm raised and the other lowered to form an angle. Before the test, I repeatedly practiced hand signal simulations on a mobile app and found that the deceleration signal is most easily mistaken for the pull-over signal.
The traffic police hand signals in Subject 1 actually originate from real traffic control scenarios. For example, the stop gesture comes from the classic motion of an officer stopping a vehicle; the go-straight gesture simulates the feeling of spreading both arms to indicate direction; the key difference between left and right turn signals lies in the orientation of the dominant hand. Special attention should be paid to the lane change signal - when the officer extends their right arm straight and swings it side to side, it's like saying 'move over'. The hardest to remember is the pull-over signal, where both arms form an L-shaped angle. These gestures are quite scientifically designed, with single-hand motions usually indicating simple commands, while complex situations require both hands. When preparing for the test, it's best to find demonstration videos with real people, as static images can easily overlook the continuity of movements.
Remember the instructor said traffic police gestures are 'living traffic lights'. The core gestures are divided into three categories: the prohibition class has only one stop gesture; the permission class includes going straight and turning left or right, distinguished by the direction of arm swing; the warning class is the most numerous, with the left turn waiting gesture extending diagonally downward to indicate waiting, the lane change gesture swinging the arm straight to request lateral movement, and the deceleration gesture making small diagonal downward swings like a light pat. The most unique is the pull-over gesture, forming a 90-degree angle with both elbows like drawing a right angle. The test likes to combine straight and turn gestures, the key is to watch the second action: going straight is a single arm swing to the left, while turning involves the other hand swinging left and right.
