Speed limit signs in Australia
A number in a red circle on a white plate. 9 signs, each with what it means and what to do when you see it.
A speed limit sign sets the maximum for good conditions, not a target and not a minimum. The number applies from the sign until another sign changes it, and it does not end at the next corner. Learner and provisional caps set by each state and territory can sit below the posted number, so the sign is not always your limit.
Recognising one at a distance
Four facts that sort this group from the other four before the legend on the sign is readable.
- Shape
- A number inside a red circle. On a zone sign the circle sits inside a larger plate carrying the times it applies
- Colours
- White ground, red ring, black numerals
- Does it carry the law
- Enforceable. The number is a maximum for good conditions.
- What to ask yourself
- Is this number my limit, or is my licence condition lower?
All 9 speed limit 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.
- 40 km/h speed limitYou must not drive faster than 40 km/h from this sign until the limit changes.
- 50 km/h speed limitYou must not drive faster than 50 km/h, which is also the default limit in built up areas without signs.
- 60 km/h speed limitYou must not drive faster than 60 km/h from this sign until the limit changes.
- 80 km/h speed limitYou must not drive faster than 80 km/h from this sign until the limit changes.
- 100 km/h speed limitYou must not drive faster than 100 km/h from this sign until the limit changes.
- 110 km/h speed limitYou must not drive faster than 110 km/h, the highest limit posted on most Australian highways.
- School zoneThe lower limit applies during the times shown on school days, so slow down and watch for children.
- End of speed limitThe lower limit finishes here and the normal limit for that road applies from this point.
- Shared zoneThe limit is 10 km/h and you must give way to any pedestrian in the zone, because people on foot share the road with vehicles.
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.
A plain 40 sign applies at all times. A school zone sign shows the same number but only during the times printed on it.
Sixty usually marks a through road or an arterial. Fifty usually marks the residential streets running off it, and the change is not always signed at every entry.
Where a lower limit ends, the road often returns to 50 rather than to anything higher, so read the next posted number rather than accelerating on the strength of the end sign.
Eighty marks the point where the multi lane keep left rule starts to apply above it, which 60 does not.
The step from 80 to 100 usually marks the change from an arterial to a highway, and with it a change in what the road allows.
The higher number appears on the better roads, usually divided highways and motorways, so the change is a signal about the road as much as about speed.
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.
| Sign | What it means | Questions in the deck |
|---|---|---|
| 40 km/h speed limit | You must not drive faster than 40 km/h from this sign until the limit changes. | 3 |
| 50 km/h speed limit | You must not drive faster than 50 km/h, which is also the default limit in built up areas without signs. | 3 |
| 60 km/h speed limit | You must not drive faster than 60 km/h from this sign until the limit changes. | 3 |
| 80 km/h speed limit | You must not drive faster than 80 km/h from this sign until the limit changes. | 3 |
| 100 km/h speed limit | You must not drive faster than 100 km/h from this sign until the limit changes. | 3 |
| 110 km/h speed limit | You must not drive faster than 110 km/h, the highest limit posted on most Australian highways. | 3 |
| School zone | The lower limit applies during the times shown on school days, so slow down and watch for children. | 3 |
| End of speed limit | The lower limit finishes here and the normal limit for that road applies from this point. | 3 |
| Shared zone | The limit is 10 km/h and you must give way to any pedestrian in the zone, because people on foot share the road with vehicles. | 3 |
27 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.
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.