Side by side
| Stop sign | Yield sign | |
|---|---|---|
| Shape | Octagon — the only eight-sided sign | Triangle, point down |
| Must you stop? | Always, every time | Only if giving way requires it |
| What it asks of you | Stop, then proceed when it is safe and it is your turn | Give way to traffic on the road you are joining |
| If the road is completely empty | You still stop | You may continue without stopping |
| Painted line | Stop line — stop immediately behind it | Yield line — give way at the line |
The stop sign: where you stop is the hard part
Whether to stop is not the difficult bit — everyone knows a stop sign means stop. What people get wrong is where.
If there is a line painted across your lane, you stop immediately behind it. If there is no line, you stop level with the sign. Creeping over the line to get a better view is the most common fault, and it is a fault even when the reason for it is sensible: once your bonnet is over the line you have not stopped where the marking required.
The other one is the rolling stop — slowing to walking pace and easing through. The wheels have to stop turning.
The yield sign: giving way is not the same as stopping
A yield sign requires you to give way at the point marked — to all traffic on the road you are joining, to rail traffic where your road crosses a railway line, and to pedestrians and cyclists crossing or waiting to cross at a marked crossing.
If nothing is coming, you may keep going. You are not required to stop. Treating every yield as a stop is one of the two mistakes, and it causes its own problems when the driver behind you is not expecting it.
The other mistake is the mirror image: rolling through a yield without actually looking. Giving way means giving way — if stopping is what it takes, you stop.
The line on the road is the sign, even when the sign is gone
This is the part almost nothing online mentions, and it is exactly the kind of thing a test question is built on.
A stop line carries the full significance of the stop sign. So if the stop sign at a junction has fallen down, or has been stolen, or a traffic signal is temporarily out of order, the painted line still requires you to stop, as though the sign were still standing there.
A yield line works the same way. If the yield sign is missing, the line on its own still requires you to give way.
So an intersection with no sign but a line across your lane is not an uncontrolled intersection. Read the road surface, not just the poles.
The mistake each sign produces
At a stop: creeping over the line, or rolling through at walking pace. Where you stop is what people get wrong, not whether they stopped.
At a yield: treating it like a stop sign and always stopping — or rolling through without actually checking for and giving way to other traffic. One wastes everyone's time; the other is the reason yield signs are there.
Signs is the biggest section of the paper
Road signs and markings is the largest of the three sections, and it is passed on its own. The free readiness test scores each section separately so you know whether this is the one to work on.
Take the free readiness testCommon questions
What is the difference between a stop sign and a yield sign?
A stop sign requires you to come to a complete stop every time, even on an empty road. A yield sign requires you to give way to other traffic and to stop only if giving way needs it.
Do I have to stop at a yield sign?
Only if giving way requires it. If the road you are joining is clear and no pedestrian or cyclist is crossing, you may continue without stopping.
Where exactly must I stop at a stop sign?
Immediately behind the painted stop line if there is one, and level with the sign if there is not. Stopping past the line is a fault even if you stopped completely.
What if the stop sign is missing but the line is painted?
You must still stop. A stop line carries the full significance of the stop sign, so it applies even when the sign has fallen down or a signal is out of order. The same is true of a yield line and a missing yield sign.
What shape is a stop sign in South Africa?
An octagon — it is the only eight-sided sign on the road, which is deliberate so it is recognisable from the back or when covered in dirt. The yield sign is a downward-pointing triangle with a red border.
Sources
- SADC Road Traffic Signs Manual, Volume 1, Chapter 7 (May 2012) — §7.2.1, Stop Line RTM1The marking "imposes a mandatory requirement upon drivers of vehicles … that they shall stop their vehicle immediately behind such line, AND such line shall have the significance assigned to STOP sign R1". It has "the effect, that in the event that a STOP sign R1 at a road junction has fallen down or is temporarily missing, or if a traffic signal is temporarily out of order, the STOP LINE marking RTM1 shall have the full significance of the sign R1".
- SADC Road Traffic Signs Manual, Volume 1, Chapter 7 (May 2012) — §7.2.2, Yield Line RTM2Drivers "shall yield right-of-way at the point marked by the line: (a) to all traffic on the public road which is joined by the road on which they are travelling, (b) to all rail traffic on the railway line which is crossed by the road on which they are travelling; (c) to pedestrians and/or cyclists crossing the roadway, or waiting to cross the roadway at a crossing marked with PEDESTRIAN CROSSING LINES". If the yield sign "has fallen down, or is temporarily missing, the YIELD LINE marking RTM2 shall have the full significance of YIELD sign R2".
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — Schedule 1, signs R1 and R2The stop sign and the yield sign, and their prescribed meanings. These are the signs the markings above take their significance from.
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — regulation 307(a)A driver shall stop in compliance with any direction conveyed by a road traffic sign or given by a traffic officer in uniform.
Last updated 2026-09-21.