Shared path sign
What the Shared path sign means: People walking and people riding bicycles both use this path, so ride slowly and give way to those on foot.
- 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
- Expect people on foot and people on bicycles in the same space, moving at very different speeds.
- If you are riding, keep left, slow down near pedestrians and give way to them.
- If you are driving, treat a driveway that crosses a shared path as a place where someone may appear from either direction with no warning.
Where you see it
Beside main roads, through parks and along foreshores and river paths, and at the ends of bridges and underpasses where a footpath and a cycle route merge.
Across the states and territories
Whether an adult may ride a bicycle on an ordinary footpath is set by each state and territory and is one of the larger differences between them. A shared path sign removes that ambiguity for the path it marks, but it says nothing about the footpath around the corner.
Tell it apart from these
- Shared paththis pagePedestrian crossing
A shared path sign marks a length of path. A pedestrian crossing sign marks a place where people cross the road and you must give way.
Pedestrian crossing: You must give way to any pedestrian on the crossing and be ready to stop before it.
- Shared paththis pagePedestrians ahead
The yellow diamond warns drivers about people on the road ahead. The blue shared path sign is an instruction to the people using the path.
Pedestrians ahead: People often cross the road here on foot, so slow down and look out for them.
How the knowledge tests use it
It shows up in questions about who gives way on a path, and in questions about driving across a path at a driveway.
What does this sign mean?
A shared path carries both groups on the same surface with no dividing line. A separated path shows the two symbols with a line between them instead.
Australian Road Rules rule 250, riding on a footpath or shared path
Common questions
- What does the Shared path sign mean?
- People walking and people riding bicycles both use this path, so ride slowly and give way to those on foot.
- What should you do when you see a Shared path sign?
- Expect people on foot and people on bicycles in the same space, moving at very different speeds. If you are riding, keep left, slow down near pedestrians and give way to them. If you are driving, treat a driveway that crosses a shared path as a place where someone may appear from either direction with no warning.
- Where is the Shared path sign used?
- Beside main roads, through parks and along foreshores and river paths, and at the ends of bridges and underpasses where a footpath and a cycle route merge.
- What is the Shared path sign confused with?
- Pedestrian crossing: A shared path sign marks a length of path. A pedestrian crossing sign marks a place where people cross the road and you must give way. Pedestrians ahead: The yellow diamond warns drivers about people on the road ahead. The blue shared path sign is an instruction to the people using the path.
- How do the knowledge tests ask about the Shared path sign?
- It shows up in questions about who gives way on a path, and in questions about driving across a path at a driveway.
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.