Prepare to stop sign
Traffic ahead is being held, so slow down now and expect to stop for a controller or a light.
- Group
- Roadwork signs
- The group at a distance
- Diamond or rectangular plate. Orange ground, black legend or symbol.
- Does this group carry the law
- Enforceable, and it overrides the permanent signs underneath it.
- In the sign deck
- 3 questions ask about this sign
What to do when you see it
In the order you do it, from the moment the sign comes into view.
- Come off the accelerator as soon as you see it and begin slowing.
- Look for a traffic controller with a stop or slow bat, or a temporary signal.
- Stop where directed and wait, even when you can see clear road ahead.
- Move off only when the controller or the signal tells you to, at low speed.
Where you see it
On the approach to a work zone where traffic is being held for single lane operation, at temporary signals, and where heavy plant is crossing the road.
Across the states and territories
The sign and the controller system are used nationally. What differs is the penalty regime and, in some jurisdictions, the requirement to slow to a stated speed when passing a controller or a work vehicle, so read the temporary signs in front of you rather than assuming the rules from home.
Tell it apart from these
Both signs at the same size, next to each other, with the one line that separates them. These are the pairs people mix up under time pressure.
- Prepare to stopthis pageTraffic signals ahead
The yellow diamond warns of permanent lights. The orange sign warns of a temporary hold that may have no lights at all.
Traffic signals ahead: Traffic lights are ahead, often where you cannot see them from far away, so be ready to stop.
- Prepare to stopthis pageStop ahead
Stop ahead points to a permanent stop sign. Prepare to stop points to a person or a temporary signal that decides when you go.
Stop ahead: There is a stop sign just ahead, so slow down and prepare to stop completely.
How the knowledge tests use it
The tested point is that a traffic controller's direction overrides the signs and the signals around them.
A real question from the sign deckWhat does this sign mean?
This orange sign is used before a work zone where a traffic controller or a temporary signal holds traffic. You may or may not have to stop, but you must be ready to.
State and territory driver handbooks, roadworks
Try it in a question
The sign tests draw the artwork above the question and ask what it means, which is closer to the way you meet a sign on the road than reading a page about it. They are original questions written for this site rather than an agency's published bank.
More roadwork signs
Orange plate with a black legend or symbol.