Stop ahead sign
There is a stop sign just ahead, so slow down and prepare to stop completely.
- 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.
- Begin braking immediately, since a stop from highway speed needs more distance than most people expect.
- Look for the stop line and for the sight lines you will have when you get there.
- Come to a complete stop at the sign, even if you have already slowed to walking pace.
Where you see it
On rural roads approaching intersections and level crossings, where the stop sign is not visible far enough back for the speed of the road.
Across the states and territories
National. Stop control at rural crossroads and level crossings is more common in the freight and farming regions, so this warning is more familiar to country drivers than to city ones.
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.
- Stop aheadthis pageGive way ahead
One means prepare to give way, the other means prepare to stop completely. The symbol inside the diamond is the only difference.
Give way ahead: There is a give way sign just ahead, so slow down and get ready to give way.
- Stop aheadthis pageStop
The warning does not require you to stop where it stands. The octagon further on does.
Stop: Come to a complete stop at the line, then give way to all traffic and pedestrians before moving off.
How the knowledge tests use it
It supports questions about stopping distance, which grows with the square of your speed rather than in step with it.
A real question from the sign deckWhat does this sign mean?
The octagon inside a yellow diamond is a warning that a stop sign is coming, used where a bend, a crest or trees hide it until late.
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.