7.3 Traffic Lights & Control Signals

Lights, officers, and the junction contract

Fixed prohibitory and mandatory signs (Sections 7.1–7.2) set standing rules. Traffic lights and authorised persons set live control at busy junctions. The Nigerian Highway Code treats light obedience as non-negotiable: among listed offences is disobeying traffic light signals, alongside disobeying road signs and markings. FRSC marshals also feature in the offence list when road users obstruct, assault, or corrupt a marshal on duty — respect for human controllers is part of the same system.

Quick Answer: Red = stop. When red and amber show together, you must stop — it is an offence to pass on that display. Green = go only if clear; do not surge into a junction already blocked by vehicles ahead. Amber means prepare to stop / stop if you can do so safely — never floor it to beat the change. If a traffic warden or marshal is directing traffic, obey the officer; live direction takes priority over the light cycle while they control the junction. A common hand-signal teaching point: arm raised vertically straight up = stop for vehicles approaching from front and back.

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Steady traffic light meanings (junctions)

Green is not a battering ram

The Highway Code’s junction text is practical and exam-friendly:

• Although green means you may go, do not go forward if other vehicles ahead are held at the junction.
• Pushing in only contributes to a solid jam.
• Always stay behind the stop lines at traffic-light-controlled junctions.
• Stop at a distance that lets you see the lights, and before the double lines across the road where those markings exist.

Scenario A. Green is showing but three cars are already frozen mid-box across the pedestrian crossing. Ngozi waits behind the stop line until there is space to clear the junction. That is the Code answer — not “green means go no matter what.”

Red and amber together

Many candidates only memorise “red stop, green go” and forget the red + amber rule. The Code states:

• When red and amber lights are showing together, you must stop.
• It is an offence to pass a junction when the red and amber lights are shown.

Treat red+amber as still a stop phase (transition toward green in many signal designs), not as a sneak-through phase.

Amber discipline

Amber is the decision window:

• If you can stop safely before the line, stop.
• If you are too close to stop safely, continue carefully — but never speed up because the light “might turn red.”
• FRSC public education materials summarise the everyday colour story: red means stop completely, yellow means prepare to stop, green means go if the way is clear.

Green filter arrows

When lights have a green filter arrow:

• Do not occupy the filter lane unless you want that direction.
• Occupying it without turning denies others their right of way and creates conflict.
• Only move with the filter when the arrow and your lane assignment match your intended path.

Scenario B. A left filter arrow is green while the main ball is red. Only left-filter traffic in the correct lane proceeds left. Straight-through drivers waiting on red must not creep into the filter lane to “escape.”

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Stop lines, officers at junctions, and queue discipline

Stop lines

Stop lines work with lights and STOP signs. Stay behind them. Crossing the line on red (or red+amber) is the classic visible violation marshals and cameras catch.

Junction controlled by officers

The Code warns: when traffic ahead is held up, do not assume it is safe to filter unless the traffic officer signals you to do so — the officer may be moving other streams into that line. Live human control can reorder movements that a passive driver would misread from vehicle positions alone.

Traffic hold-ups

In jams, do not jump the queue by cutting into another lane or by unauthorised siren use to overtake waiting vehicles. Lights and officers are not a race start grid.

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Flashing signals in Code context

Level crossings — flashing red

Some level crossings without gates or attendants have flashing red (“stop light”) signals:

• When the red lights flash, you must stop and wait.
• Do not cross; a train will reach the crossing soon after flashing begins.
• Lights go off when it is safe to cross.
• If you are already crossing when red starts flashing and bells ring, keep going to clear the tracks (do not reverse back onto the rails in panic).

Also remember related crossing rules: never drive nose-to-tail onto a crossing; never stop on or immediately after a crossing; always give way to trains.

Expressway entrances — flashing amber

When you enter expressways that have flashing amber light signals at entrances or intervals, the lights warn of danger ahead (accident, mist, skid risk, and similar). Code guidance:

• When lights are flashing, keep speed under 50 km/h.
• When you then see the danger, slow further — even to a crawl if needed.
• Do not exceed 50 km/h in that flashing-amber warning context as stated in the Code narrative.

This is a different “amber” story from the steady junction amber. On the CBT, read whether the stem is a junction traffic light or an expressway flashing amber warning.

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Traffic control signs and warden / marshal hand signals

Highway Code Traffic Control Signs plates illustrate officer-style control meanings such as:

• Vehicles on the right move on.
• Vehicles on the left move on.
• Vehicles on the right and left stop.
• Vehicles in front stop.

These signs teach the same language marshals use with their bodies: who may move and who must hold.

Hand signals by authorised persons

You must obey signals given by authorised traffic officers, FRSC marshals, and traffic wardens directing traffic. Core teaching points for CBT:

Exact choreography can vary slightly by training illustration, but the exam-stable idea is: vertical arm up = stop control for the streams indicated (front and back in standard teaching), and you obey the person, not your private interpretation of what the light “was about to do.”

Priority: officer over lights

When an authorised officer is actively directing traffic at a junction:

1. Obey the officer’s signals even if they differ from the light display.
2. Do not argue that “my light is green” while the marshal is holding your stream for an emergency vehicle, a stalled bus clear-out, or a temporary conflict resolution.
3. When the officer is not directing and stands aside, revert to lights, signs, and markings.

Scenario C. Lights show green toward Chioma, but a marshal’s arm is raised vertically stopping her stream while an ambulance crosses against the normal cycle. Chioma stops. The officer’s live control governs.

Scenario D. No officer is present; lights show red. Bode rolls through because “everyone does it at night.” That is still disobeying traffic light signals — an offence in the Code list.

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Offence framing for the CBT

From the Highway Code offence catalogue (selected items relevant here):

• Disobey traffic light signals — explicit offence.
• Disobey or disregard road signs or pavement markings — covers 7.1–7.2 failures.
• Use of a restricted road marked one way or no entry.
• Obstruct a marshal in the performance of duty; assault or corrupt a marshal on duty — human-controller offences.

You do not need every naira figure in this chapter (Chapter 11 expands offence codes and sample fines). You do need the behavioural rule: lights and officers are not optional.

Pedestrian note (so you do not misuse light stems)

For pedestrians at light-controlled crossings, the Code tells walkers to watch traffic as well as lights and not to cross on green or amber meant for vehicles in the pedestrian guidance context — drivers must still expect mistakes and protect vulnerable users. As a driver, your primary table remains red/amber/green vehicle signals and stop-line discipline.

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Integrated junction checklist (lights + signs + people)

1. Scan for officer/marshal first — are they directing?
2. Read traffic lights (including filters and red+amber).
3. Honour stop lines and avoid blocking the box.
4. Apply any mandatory direction or prohibitory turn ban on the approach.
5. In works or temporary schemes, expect temporary traffic control plates.
6. Near rails, treat flashing red as absolute stop-and-wait (unless already committed on the crossing).
7. On expressway approaches with flashing amber, slow under 50 km/h and prepare for danger.

Memory hooks for Section 7.3

1. Red stop; red+amber stop (offence to pass).
2. Green only if clear — do not join a jam in the box.
3. Amber = prepare/stop if safe — never race it.
4. Filter arrow = that movement only, correct lane.
5. Vertical arm up = stop front and back streams.
6. Officer directing > light cycle.
7. Disobeying lights is an offence.
8. Flashing red (crossing) stop; flashing amber (expressway warning) under 50.

Link backward and forward

• Sections 7.1–7.2 fixed what signs forbid and command when no light is present.
• Section 7.3 adds the dynamic layer of lights and people.
• Chapter 8 will cover warning signs, information signs, road markings, and more on hand signals as road-user communication — keep officer-control signals from 7.3 distinct from your own indicator/arm signals to other drivers.

For the FRSC CBT, if you remember nothing else from Chapter 7: red-border forbids, blue disc commands, red light stops you, green only if clear, and a marshal’s raised arm stops you even when the bulb is green.

Extra practice: flashing signal discrimination

Misreading expressway flashing amber as “same as green filter” is a dangerous confusion. Misreading crossing flashing red as “proceed with caution without stopping” is equally wrong.

Officer priority micro-drill

Ask three questions at every controlled junction in practice drives (and mental CBT scenarios):

1. Is a marshal/warden/officer actively signalling?
2. If yes, what stream is being stopped vs moved on?
3. If no, what do the lights and signs require?

That three-step scan prevents both “I followed a dead green against a live marshal” and “I ignored a live green when nobody was directing.”