Slippery road sign
The road ahead can be slippery, so slow down, brake gently and leave a bigger gap.
- 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.
- Reduce speed before you reach the length the sign covers.
- Brake earlier and more gently, and avoid braking while turning.
- Increase your following gap well beyond two seconds.
- Make steering inputs smooth, because a sudden change of direction is what breaks traction.
Where you see it
On bridge decks, on smooth or polished road surfaces, on approaches where oil collects at intersections, and on roads that are regularly wet from spray or shade.
Across the states and territories
The warning is national. What makes a road slippery is not: black ice and frost matter in the Tasmanian and Victorian highlands, the Snowy Mountains and the Canberra region, while the first rain after a dry spell is the classic hazard in Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
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.
- Slippery roadthis pageCurve to the left
The two together are the highest risk combination on a country road, because slippery and turning are what put a car off the outside of a bend.
Curve to the left: The road ahead curves to the left, so slow down before you reach it.
- Slippery roadthis pageNarrow bridge
Bridge decks are often signed for both, since they freeze first and are narrower than the road either side.
Narrow bridge: The bridge ahead is narrower than the road, so slow down and be ready to give way to oncoming traffic.
How the knowledge tests use it
Following distance is the standard question here, and the answer is to increase the gap rather than to rely on braking sooner.
A real question from the sign deckWhat does this sign mean?
The car with wavy tracks behind it warns that grip can drop away, often because of a polished surface, loose material, oil or water.
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.