Cattle ahead sign
What the Cattle ahead sign means: Cattle may be on or beside the road here, so slow down and be ready to stop.
- Group
- Warning signs
- Does this group carry the law
- Not enforceable on its own. It changes nothing about right of way.
- In the sign deck
- 3 questions ask about this sign
What to do when you see it
- Slow right down and be ready to stop completely.
- Look for a farmer or a working dog moving stock across the road.
- Pass at walking pace and without sounding the horn if the herd is on the road.
- Watch for a gate or a stock crossing point marked on the road surface.
Where you see it
On rural roads through grazing country, near stock crossings between paddocks, on unfenced roads and around saleyards.
Across the states and territories
Unfenced roads where livestock wander freely are far more common in the Northern Territory, outback Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia than in the south east, and in those areas stock on the road is routine rather than exceptional. The sign means the same thing everywhere, but the likelihood behind it is not the same.
Tell it apart from these
- Cattle aheadthis pageKangaroos ahead
Native animals arrive fast and unpredictably. Livestock are slow, visible and often being moved by someone.
Kangaroos ahead: Kangaroos cross the road along this stretch, most often around dawn and dusk, so slow down and scan the verges.
- Cattle aheadthis pageRoadwork ahead
Both can mean a full stop on an open road. The difference is that a stock crossing has no traffic controller and no warning distance.
Roadwork ahead: Work is going on in the road ahead, so slow down and watch for changed conditions.
How the knowledge tests use it
Questions ask what to do when animals are on the road, and the answer is to slow to a stop and wait rather than to drive through the herd.
What does this sign mean?
Stock warning signs go up where cattle cross or are moved along the road, often between paddocks or near a grid.
State and territory driver handbooks, warning signs
Common questions
- What does the Cattle ahead sign mean?
- Cattle may be on or beside the road here, so slow down and be ready to stop.
- What should you do when you see a Cattle ahead sign?
- Slow right down and be ready to stop completely. Look for a farmer or a working dog moving stock across the road. Pass at walking pace and without sounding the horn if the herd is on the road. Watch for a gate or a stock crossing point marked on the road surface.
- Where is the Cattle ahead sign used?
- On rural roads through grazing country, near stock crossings between paddocks, on unfenced roads and around saleyards.
- What is the Cattle ahead sign confused with?
- Kangaroos ahead: Native animals arrive fast and unpredictably. Livestock are slow, visible and often being moved by someone. Roadwork ahead: Both can mean a full stop on an open road. The difference is that a stock crossing has no traffic controller and no warning distance.
- How do the knowledge tests ask about the Cattle ahead sign?
- Questions ask what to do when animals are on the road, and the answer is to slow to a stop and wait rather than to drive through the herd.
Try it in a question
Original practice questions, not the official bank. How we write and check them.
More warning signs
Yellow diamond with a black symbol.