Keep left sign
What the Keep left sign means: Pass on the left side of the sign, so keep to the left of the island or divider ahead.
- Group
- Regulatory signs
- Does this group carry the law
- Enforceable. Disobeying one is an offence in itself.
- In the sign deck
- 3 questions ask about this sign
What to do when you see it
- Pass to the left of the sign and the island, kerb or divider it is mounted on.
- Check your left mirror and blind spot before you move across, because a bicycle may be there.
- Hold your lane through the narrowing rather than drifting back out once the island ends.
Where you see it
On traffic islands at intersections, at the nose of a median that splits a road, at pedestrian refuges, and in front of bridge piers and roundabout splitter islands.
Across the states and territories
Used the same way across all jurisdictions. The mirrored keep right version appears where traffic is meant to pass on the other side of an island, and both are read as an instruction about the object in front of you rather than about the road generally.
Tell it apart from these
- Keep leftthis pageOne way
One way governs the whole street. Keep left governs the few metres around one island.
One way: Traffic on this road travels in the direction of the arrow only.
- Keep leftthis pageRoundabout
The roundabout sign also tells you to pass to the left of something, but it applies to a whole intersection with its own give way rule.
Roundabout: Drive around the roundabout to the left of the central island and give way to any vehicle already in it.
How the knowledge tests use it
It is often used to test the separate keep left rule for multi lane roads, which is a different thing: on a road with a limit over 80 km/h you must not sit in the right lane unless you are overtaking, turning right, or the other lanes are congested.
What does this sign mean?
This sign sits on a traffic island, median or obstruction and tells you which side of it to take. It says nothing about which lane you must stay in afterwards.
State and territory driver handbooks, regulatory signs
Common questions
- What does the Keep left sign mean?
- Pass on the left side of the sign, so keep to the left of the island or divider ahead.
- What should you do when you see a Keep left sign?
- Pass to the left of the sign and the island, kerb or divider it is mounted on. Check your left mirror and blind spot before you move across, because a bicycle may be there. Hold your lane through the narrowing rather than drifting back out once the island ends.
- Where is the Keep left sign used?
- On traffic islands at intersections, at the nose of a median that splits a road, at pedestrian refuges, and in front of bridge piers and roundabout splitter islands.
- What is the Keep left sign confused with?
- One way: One way governs the whole street. Keep left governs the few metres around one island. Roundabout: The roundabout sign also tells you to pass to the left of something, but it applies to a whole intersection with its own give way rule.
- How do the knowledge tests ask about the Keep left sign?
- It is often used to test the separate keep left rule for multi lane roads, which is a different thing: on a road with a limit over 80 km/h you must not sit in the right lane unless you are overtaking, turning right, or the other lanes are congested.
Try it in a question
Original practice questions, not the official bank. How we write and check them.
More regulatory signs
Mostly white with red or black, and usually round or rectangular.