Road-sign category · 29 illustrated guides
Warning signs give you time to prepare for a condition ahead. Three useful groups are road alignment, changing space and changing surface. A curve, a lane ending and slippery pavement all call for attention, but not the same decision. Trace the pictured path, identify which dimension is restricted or read which surface is affected. The yellow family tells you to look ahead; the actual symbol tells you what to look for. These examples preserve their individual direction and values, rather than treating a familiar yellow diamond as a universal answer.
The road ahead separates opposing traffic with a median or another physical barrier.
The physical separation between opposing traffic is ending ahead.
Traffic from another roadway will join the main stream ahead.
The number of lanes carrying traffic in your direction will decrease ahead.
Another roadway joins and becomes a separate additional lane.
Traffic travels in both directions on the roadway ahead or along the section being marked.
People may enter, cross, or share the roadway in the area.
The road curves to the left ahead.
A sharp left turn in the road is ahead.
Several curves are close together ahead.
Chevrons show the direction of a turn or curve and add guidance along its outside edge.
A STOP sign controls traffic farther ahead.
A YIELD sign is ahead.
A traffic signal is ahead.
The road may become unexpectedly slippery, especially when wet.
The roadway becomes narrower ahead.
The bridge ahead provides less side-to-side clearance than you may expect from the approach.
The bridge ahead has only one usable traffic lane.
An overhead obstruction ahead has the vertical clearance shown.
A sharp rise or raised irregularity is ahead in the road surface.
A depression in the roadway is ahead.
The paved roadway changes to an unpaved surface such as gravel or earth ahead.
The shoulder beside the traveled roadway is soft and may not support a vehicle like the main road surface.
The yellow pennant identifies the beginning of a no-passing zone.
NO OUTLET warns that the road or road network ahead has no other exit.
A yellow advisory-speed plaque supplements a warning sign with a speed recommendation for the condition ahead.
The deer silhouette warns that deer may enter or cross the road.
A side road joins from the side shown by the branch.
Another road crosses the highway ahead.
Follow the lines in the symbol. A merge branch joins a main path; an added-lane picture shows paths continuing separately. A lane-ending boundary narrows into the continuing lane. Those are different layouts, even when the panels share a yellow diamond. Alignment warnings likewise describe the road ahead rather than automatically directing a turn at a junction. Compare the pictured path before deciding which movement or nearby traffic needs your attention.
Ask what changes. ROAD NARROWS concerns available width; LOW CLEARANCE concerns vertical room. BUMP and DIP describe the surface profile, while PAVEMENT ENDS describes a change of material. SOFT SHOULDER places its concern beside the traveled roadway. These messages do not call for an identical response. Read the symbol or words, relate them to your vehicle and prepare before reaching the condition rather than recognizing the diamond and overlooking the actual warning.
STOP AHEAD, YIELD AHEAD and SIGNAL AHEAD prepare you for a later control. The warning panel is not the stopping location or a live traffic-signal indication. A supplemental advisory-speed plaque belongs with the particular warning above it. Read that complete assembly and the conditions around you; neither a familiar shape nor a pictured numeral supplies a universal speed or a guarantee that the same response fits every road.
An overhead obstruction ahead has the vertical clearance shown. This illustration reads 12 feet 6 inches, but the number on the sign you encounter is the one to compare with your vehicle's full height, including its load.
Reference for this example · 1
A yellow advisory-speed plaque supplements a warning sign with a speed recommendation for the condition ahead. The pictured 35 MPH is an example for the warned condition, not a new general regulatory limit or a guarantee of safe speed in rain, ice, or other poor conditions.
Reference for this example · 1
Reference for this example · 2
