How to sign “Traffic” in ASL
The BSL sign for “Traffic” isn't in our dictionary yet — it will be fingerspelled in BSL mode, never replaced with this ASL sign.
Step by step
- Shape both hands into loose 5 handshapes with the fingers spread and slightly bent.
- Hold both hands up at chest height in front of your body, palms facing each other.
- Point the fingertips of each hand toward the fingertips of the other hand, picturing lanes of cars.
- Move the hands back and forth past each other in small alternating motions, like vehicles streaming in opposite lanes.
- Keep the palms facing each other through the whole alternating movement.
- Hold a matter-of-fact expression — the sign simply names the condition of traffic.
Practice tip
The bent fingers are the lanes, not the cars — hands passing each other picture a busy multi-lane road.
Fingerspell “Traffic”
Letter by letter — a handy backup if you forget the sign above. This is not the sign itself.
Text-based guide researched from established ASL references (Lifeprint, university and public-health materials) and rewritten in original words. Signer-created photos and videos are a planned future upgrade.