Children ahead sign
Children may be near or on the road here, so slow down and be ready for them to step out.
- Group
- Warning signs
- The group at a distance
- Diamond, standing on one point, with no exceptions in this group. Yellow ground, black symbol.
- 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
In the order you do it, from the moment the sign comes into view.
- Slow down well before the area and keep the speed down through it.
- Watch the gaps between parked cars, which is where children appear from.
- Expect a child who has seen you to keep moving anyway, because judging speed is a skill they have not developed.
- Be ready to stop rather than to swerve.
Where you see it
Near schools, playgrounds, sports fields, swimming pools and child care centres, and on residential streets where children play.
Across the states and territories
The warning is national and carries no speed of its own. In a school zone it is usually paired with a school zone speed sign, and that pairing differs between jurisdictions because the zone speeds and hours do.
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.
- Children aheadthis pageSchool zone
The school zone sign sets an enforceable limit during set hours. This one is a warning that applies whenever children are about.
School zone: The lower limit applies during the times shown on school days, so slow down and watch for children.
- Children aheadthis pagePedestrians ahead
Same idea, different risk. Children are shorter than a parked car and step out without checking.
Pedestrians ahead: People often cross the road here on foot, so slow down and look out for them.
How the knowledge tests use it
It appears in questions about stopping distance and about why a lower speed matters more around children than around adults.
A real question from the sign deckWhat does this sign mean?
This warning appears near schools, playgrounds, parks and pools. It tells you to expect children, which is different from a speed zone or a marked crossing.
State and territory driver handbooks, warning signs
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 warning signs
Yellow diamond with a black symbol.