Narrow bridge sign
The bridge ahead is narrower than the road, so slow down and be ready to give way to oncoming traffic.
- 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 and look through to the far side before you commit.
- Work out whether two vehicles can pass, and give way if the road is signed for it or if a vehicle is already on the bridge.
- Do not overtake on the approach or on the structure.
- Watch the edges, since the kerb or rail sits closer to your wheels than usual.
Where you see it
On country roads over creeks and rivers, on old timber bridges, on causeways and at single lane crossings in national parks and farmland.
Across the states and territories
Single lane bridges are still common on rural roads in Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. Some carry a give way or a priority plate showing which direction yields, and where none is posted the ordinary give way rules and common sense decide, so read the approach rather than assuming you have priority.
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.
- Narrow bridgethis pageRoad narrows
Road narrows means the sealed width shrinks. A narrow bridge means a fixed structure with no room to move sideways at all.
Road narrows: The road ahead gets narrower, so slow down and hold your position in the lane.
- Narrow bridgethis pageNo overtaking
Overtaking on a narrow bridge is unsafe whether or not the ban is signed, and many bridges carry both signs.
No overtaking: You must not overtake another vehicle on this length of road.
How the knowledge tests use it
Questions test who gives way when two vehicles arrive at once, and the answer starts with reading the signs at each end rather than with speed.
A real question from the sign deckWhat does this sign mean?
The two upright bars in the diamond show the sides of a bridge closing in. There may be very little room beside your vehicle on the structure.
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.