80 km/h speed limit sign
What the 80 km/h speed limit sign means: You must not drive faster than 80 km/h from this sign until the limit changes.
- Group
- Speed limit signs
- 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
- Keep to 80 km/h or less, and drop further below it in poor weather.
- Increase your following gap, because at this speed the distance you cover in two seconds is around 45 m.
- Merge and change lanes early, since a road signed at 80 usually carries traffic that is not going to slow for you.
Where you see it
On outer suburban arterials, on rural highways through farmland, on the approaches to freeways, and through long roadwork zones on high speed roads.
Across the states and territories
Eighty is the threshold in the Australian Road Rules for the keep left rule on multi lane roads: above 80 km/h you must not drive in the right lane unless overtaking, turning right or the other lanes are congested. That threshold is national, but signs telling you to keep left unless overtaking are posted more heavily in some states than others.
Tell it apart from these
- 80 km/h speed limitthis page100 km/h speed limit
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.
100 km/h speed limit: You must not drive faster than 100 km/h from this sign until the limit changes.
- 80 km/h speed limitthis pageKeep left
The keep left sign on an island is about one obstruction. The keep left rule triggered above 80 km/h is about lane discipline over a whole road.
Keep left: Pass on the left side of the sign, so keep to the left of the island or divider ahead.
How the knowledge tests use it
The 80 km/h threshold for the right lane rule is a favourite question in several jurisdictions.
What does this sign mean?
A red ring with a number is a legal maximum, and it applies in every lane of that road until a sign changes it.
Australian Road Rules rule 20, obeying the speed limit
Common questions
- What does the 80 km/h speed limit sign mean?
- You must not drive faster than 80 km/h from this sign until the limit changes.
- What should you do when you see a 80 km/h speed limit sign?
- Keep to 80 km/h or less, and drop further below it in poor weather. Increase your following gap, because at this speed the distance you cover in two seconds is around 45 m. Merge and change lanes early, since a road signed at 80 usually carries traffic that is not going to slow for you.
- Where is the 80 km/h speed limit sign used?
- On outer suburban arterials, on rural highways through farmland, on the approaches to freeways, and through long roadwork zones on high speed roads.
- What is the 80 km/h speed limit sign confused with?
- 100 km/h speed limit: 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. Keep left: The keep left sign on an island is about one obstruction. The keep left rule triggered above 80 km/h is about lane discipline over a whole road.
- How do the knowledge tests ask about the 80 km/h speed limit sign?
- The 80 km/h threshold for the right lane rule is a favourite question in several jurisdictions.
Try it in a question
Original practice questions, not the official bank. How we write and check them.
More speed limit signs
A number in a red circle on a white plate.