School zone sign
The lower limit applies during the times shown on school days, so slow down and watch for children.
- Group
- Speed limit signs
- The group at a distance
- A number inside a red circle. On a zone sign the circle sits inside a larger plate carrying the times it applies. White ground, red ring, black numerals.
- Does this group carry the law
- Enforceable. The number is a maximum for good conditions.
- 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.
- Read the times and the days printed on the sign, and check whether today is one of them.
- Be at the lower limit before you enter the zone, not once you are inside it.
- Scan the footpath, the gates and the gaps between parked cars, because children step out without looking.
- Stay at the limit until the end of zone sign, even if the school looks closed.
Where you see it
On the approach to primary and secondary schools, usually with flashing lights or a fluorescent border, and repeated at every entry to the zone.
Across the states and territories
This is the sign with the most variation between jurisdictions. The speed, the hours and the days are set by each state and territory rather than nationally, South Australia uses a lower number than the eastern states, and the hours differ across borders even where the number matches. Read the sign in front of you and check your own agency's page rather than carrying interstate habits with you.
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.
- School zonethis page40 km/h speed limit
A plain 40 sign applies all the time. A school zone sign applies only during the hours it shows, and the road returns to its normal limit outside them.
40 km/h speed limit: You must not drive faster than 40 km/h from this sign until the limit changes.
- School zonethis pageChildren ahead
Children ahead is a warning with no speed attached. A school zone sign sets an enforceable limit.
Children ahead: Children may be near or on the road here, so slow down and be ready for them to step out.
How the knowledge tests use it
Expect a question about a school zone on a public holiday or during school holidays, and a question about whether the limit applies when no children are visible.
A real question from the sign deckWhat does this sign mean?
School zone signs set an enforceable limit for the posted times on days when school is on. South Australia signs its school areas differently, so check the local handbook when you drive there.
State and territory driver handbooks, school zones
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 speed limit signs
A number in a red circle on a white plate.