A warning sign commands nothing — and changes everything
Regulatory signs tell you to do something. Warning signs do not. A warning sign calls attention to conditions on the road that are dangerous or potentially dangerous, and then leaves the driving to you.
That is exactly why learners under-study them, and exactly why it is a mistake. The warning sign is the notice, and once you have had notice, the ordinary rules bite harder.
The clearest case is a curve. You may not pass other traffic when you are approaching the summit of a rise, a curve, or any other place where your view is so restricted that passing could create a hazard. A curve sign is the road telling you, in advance, that this rule is about to apply to you. Nothing on the sign says "do not overtake" — and after you have seen it, overtaking is the thing you cannot defend. It does not post a speed either; the requirement to drive at a speed at which you can stop within the distance you can see does that work, and the sign tells you the distance is about to shorten.
The four groups
The number series tells you which group you are in. The first three are placed in advance of the hazard; the fourth is placed at it.
| Group | Numbers | What it warns about |
|---|---|---|
| Road layout | W100 series | The shape of what is coming: a crossroad, a T-junction, a side road joining, staggered junctions, a Y-junction, a dual roadway beginning or ending |
| Direction of movement | W200 series | What the road is about to do to your steering: a traffic circle, a gentle or sharp curve, a hairpin bend, a winding road, lanes ending, two-way traffic starting |
| Symbolic | W300 series | Everything else, by picture: traffic control ahead, pedestrians, cyclists and animals, constraints and surface conditions, roadworks, and a miscellaneous group |
| Hazard marker | W400 series | The location of the hazard itself: danger and delineator plates, railway crossings, chevrons on a curve, a dead end, a barricade |
The symbolic group is the large one and it is the one worth working through sign by sign. Its five categories are traffic control; pedestrians, cyclists and animals; roadway constraints and surface condition; roadworks and other temporary installations; and miscellaneous.
Shape and colour: how to recognise one before you can read it
Every advance warning sign is an equilateral triangle mounted with the point at the top. That is the whole rule, and it is the one shape in the system that is never used for anything else — the yield sign is a triangle too, but it points down.
A permanent one is a black symbol on a white background with a red triangular border. A temporary one is a black symbol on a yellow background with a red triangular border. Temporary signs carry the letter T in front of the number, so the crossroad sign is W101 and its temporary version is TW101.
Some warning signs only ever exist as temporary signs, because the thing they warn about is by nature temporary — roadworks and a grader working are both numbered with a T from the start.
Hazard markers break the triangle rule, because they are not advance signs. They are rectangular, with two exceptions that are cross-shaped: the railway crossing marker and the traffic-signals-out-of-order marker.
How far ahead the sign is placed
Advance warning signs are positioned by the operating speed of the road, not by eye. Knowing the distance tells you roughly how much road you have left to act in.
| Operating speed | Distance from the hazard | On a gravel road |
|---|---|---|
| 120 km/h | 330 m | 400 m |
| 100 km/h | 240 m | 320 m |
| 80 km/h | 160 m | 218 m |
| 60 km/h | 120 m | 160 m |
Where a sign has to be placed 300 m or more from the hazard, a distance plate under it is recommended — which is what "800 m" or "For 8 km" beneath a triangle is doing there. A sign is also moved further back if there is not enough clear visibility to it from the approach.
Hazard markers: the group that is at the hazard, not before it
Every other warning sign is a preview. A hazard marker is the thing itself, marked as closely as possible to where it is.
Danger plates and delineator plates mark an obstruction beside the road and show which side to pass. The rule is worth memorising because it is a pair and the two are mirror images: do not pass to the right of a danger plate, and do not pass to the left of a delineator plate.
Chevrons on a curve mark a bend that turns more sharply than the approach suggests. A T-junction chevron says the road does not continue straight; a dead-end marker says it does not continue at all.
Railway crossing markers come in a one-track and a multiple-track version, and the action is the same: slow down, and stop if a train is approaching. Where there is no stop line and no sign, stop no closer than three metres from the nearest track, and not on the track or in the railway reserve.
The traffic-signals-out-of-order marker is the one you will meet in town. Slow down, yield, and look for a traffic officer or a stop sign controlling the junction instead.
A yellow warning sign beats the white one next to it
Temporary signs are not a weaker version of permanent ones. They are put up because the normal arrangement of the road has stopped being true — roadworks, an incident, a temporary lane arrangement, a scholar patrol.
Where a temporary sign conflicts with a permanent one, the temporary sign is the one to obey. The same holds on the regulatory side: a temporary speed limit on a yellow face replaces the permanent one on the white face a hundred metres back. Yellow means the road is not behaving the way the permanent signs describe.
The mistake
Reading a warning sign as information rather than as a change in what is required of you. "Sharp curve ahead" is not a fact about the road; it is the last notice you get before the rule about stopping within the distance you can see becomes the rule you are being judged on.
The second is the winding-road sign. It warns of a series of curves, and the classic error is treating the first bend as the whole warning — accelerating out of it and being caught by the next one. There may be any number of curves after the first without a further sign.
The third is the pair of distance plates under a triangle. A plate saying "For" tells you how far the hazard lasts. A plate saying a plain distance tells you how far until it starts. They look identical at a glance and they mean opposite things.
Signs and markings is the biggest section
Road signs and markings is the largest of the three sections of the learner's paper and it is passed on its own. The free readiness test scores each section separately, so you can see whether this is the one to work on.
Take the free readiness testCommon questions
What shape are warning signs in South Africa?
An equilateral triangle with the point at the top, a black symbol on a white background and a red border. Hazard markers are the exception — they are rectangular, except the railway crossing and traffic-signals-out-of-order markers, which are cross-shaped.
What are the four types of warning sign?
Road layout signs, direction of movement signs, symbolic signs, and hazard marker signs. The first three are placed in advance of the hazard; hazard markers are placed at the hazard itself.
What does a yellow triangular sign mean?
It is a temporary warning sign. The symbol and the red border are the same as the permanent version; the yellow background says the situation is not normal, and a temporary sign takes precedence over a permanent one it conflicts with.
Do I have to slow down for a warning sign?
A warning sign does not itself post a speed. What it does is give you notice, and the ordinary requirements — driving at a speed at which you can stop within the distance you can see, and not passing where your view is restricted — then apply with that notice behind them.
How far before the hazard is a warning sign placed?
By the speed of the road: roughly 120 m at 60 km/h, 160 m at 80, 240 m at 100 and 330 m at 120, and further on gravel. A sign placed 300 m or more out usually carries a distance plate under it.
What is the difference between a danger plate and a delineator plate?
They mark an obstruction beside the road and tell you which side to pass. Do not pass to the right of a danger plate; do not pass to the left of a delineator plate.
Sources
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — regulation 285(1)(b) and 285(2)(a)(ii)A warning sign is "a road traffic sign calling attention to conditions on a public road which are dangerous or potentially dangerous to road users". The class divides into advance warning signs — road layout signs, direction of movement signs and symbolic signs — and hazard marker warning signs.
- SADC Road Traffic Signs Manual, Volume 1, Chapter 3 (May 2012) — §3.1.1 to §3.1.5Warning signs "alert drivers to hazardous or potentially hazardous conditions" and "indicate a need for extra caution". Groups: ROAD LAYOUT (W100 series), DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT (W200 series), SYMBOLIC (W300 series, covering traffic control; pedestrians, cyclists and animals; roadway constraints and surface condition; roadworks; miscellaneous) and HAZARD MARKER (W400 series). Shape: "All warning signs used in advance of a hazard or potential hazard have an equilateral triangular shape and are mounted with the apex uppermost"; hazard markers are rectangular except the railway crossing and traffic signal out of order markers, "which have a cross shape". Colour: permanent advance warning signs are "a black symbol on a white background with a red triangular border"; temporary ones "a black symbol on a yellow background with a red triangular border". Temporary signs take a T prefix.
- SADC Road Traffic Signs Manual, Volume 1, Chapter 3 (May 2012) — §3.1.7 and Table 3.1Advance warning sign location distance from the hazard by operating speed: 120 km/h — 330 m (400 m on gravel); 100 km/h — 240 m (320 m); 80 km/h — 160 m (218 m); 60 km/h — 120 m (160 m). "Hazard marker warning signs should be located as close as possible to the hazard being marked." Where a sign is 300 m or more from the hazard a distance supplementary plate is recommended.
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — regulation 298(2)A driver "shall not pass other traffic proceeding in the same direction on a public road when approaching the summit of a rise, a curve, or any other place, where his or her view is so restricted that any such passing could create a hazard" in relation to oncoming traffic.
- SA Learner Driver Manual, Section 2: Road Traffic Signs (Department of Transport, June 2012) — §4.1 to §4.4The syllabus treatment of the warning class sign by sign, with the action required of the driver for each: the road layout signs, the curve and winding-road signs, the symbolic signs, the hazard markers including the danger and delineator plates and the railway crossing markers, and the combination signs. Also §1: a sign with a yellow background is a temporary sign used where "normal standards are not applicable".
- National Road Traffic Regulations, 2000 — regulation 286A(1)(b)How a permanent sign is recoloured to make its temporary version, including that a white, blue or green background becomes yellow retroreflective while a red border stays red.
Last updated 2026-09-21.