Guide and service signs in Australia: all 6 explained

Guide signs tell you where you are going and what is coming up: a freeway starting or ending, an exit, a rest area, a hospital, a detour around a closure. They rarely carry a rule of their own, but the road conditions they announce come with rules attached, which is why they turn up in knowledge tests at all.

Recognising one at a distance

Four facts that sort this group from the other four before the legend on the sign is readable.

Shape: Rectangular, often wide
Colours: Green for routes, blue for services
Does it carry the law: Mostly informational, but the road it announces carries rules.
What to ask yourself: What kind of road am I about to be on, and what changes there?

All 6 guide and service signs

Select a sign for the full page: what to do, where you see it, what changes between the states and territories, and the signs it gets mixed up with.

Pairs inside this group that get mixed up

Drawn at the same size, next to each other, which is the way the difference is actually learned. 6 pairs in this group.

Freeway begins Freeway ends
The pair bracket the length where freeway conditions apply. The end sign is where intersections, pedestrians and lower limits come back.
Freeway begins Exit
The exit sign is inside the freeway. This one marks the boundary where the rules change.
Exit Freeway ends
An exit leaves the freeway while the freeway continues. Freeway ends means the road itself has stopped being one.
Exit Detour
A detour sends you off the normal route because it is closed. An exit is part of the normal route.
Rest area Hospital
Both are service signs, but only one of them is the answer to a fatigue question.
Hospital Detour
Guide signs point you somewhere. A detour tells you the normal way there is closed.

The group as a study list

The same signs without the artwork, so the whole group can be read straight through or printed and taken away from the screen.

Every guide and service sign and its meaning
Sign	What it means	Questions in the deck
Freeway begins	Freeway rules start here, so no pedestrians, bicycles or learner restrictions that bar the freeway, and no stopping except in an emergency.	3
Freeway ends	Freeway conditions end here, so expect a lower limit, intersections and traffic that can stop.	3
Exit	This is the way off the freeway, so move into the exit lane early and slow down once you are in it.	3
Rest area	There is a place to pull over and rest ahead, which is the safe answer when you start to feel tired.	3
Hospital	A hospital is ahead in the direction shown.	3
Detour	The road ahead is closed, so follow the arrows on these signs along the marked alternative route.	3

18 of the questions in the sign deck ask about a sign in this group. They are original questions written for this site, not an agency's published bank. The whole library is also on one page as a study sheet built to print.

Put it in front of yourself

Reading a sign page and recognising the sign at speed are different skills. The sign test draws the artwork above the question, which is closer to the second one.

The other sign groups

Sorting a sign by its shape and colour before you read it is the skill worth building.

Regulatory signsMostly white with red or black, and usually round or rectangular. 15 signs.Warning signsYellow diamond with a black symbol. 19 signs.Speed limit signsA number in a red circle on a white plate. 9 signs.Roadwork signsOrange plate with a black legend or symbol. 5 signs.

Check the sign in front of you

Signs on the road carry plates, times and exceptions that a library page cannot show, and some of the rules behind them are set by each state and territory rather than nationally. Your agency's handbook is the authority on the rules you are tested on.