Road Markings in South Africa: Every Line and What It Means
Road markings carry the same legal force as a road sign. This page covers every marking the K53 learner's licence test asks about - barrier lines, lane lines, edge lines, stop and yield lines, kerb markings and painted islands.
Road markings are asked inside the Road Signs section of the learner's licence test, which is 28 questions and needs 23 correct — 82.1%, the strictest of the three sections. A marking is an instruction painted on the road surface, and where a marking and a sign say different things, obey whichever is more restrictive. The single rule that carries most of the marks: a solid line is a line you may not cross, and a broken line is a line you may cross when it is safe. The 8 markings in the table below cover every marking the test asks about.
| Marking | Colour and form | What you must do |
|---|---|---|
| Barrier line | Solid white, along the road | Do not cross it and do not straddle it |
| Lane line | Broken white, along the road | Cross it only when it is safe and legal |
| Edge line | Yellow, along the left edge | Stay inside it; it marks the edge of the roadway |
| Stop line | Solid white, across the road | Stop completely before it, not on it |
| Yield line | Broken white, across the road | Give way, and stop if you have to |
| Pedestrian crossing | Broad white stripes across the road | Give way to any pedestrian on the crossing |
| Kerb line | Red, painted on the kerb | No stopping at any time, not even briefly |
| Painted island | White chevrons or diagonal stripes | Do not drive on it and do not park on it |
Barrier lines
A barrier line is the solid white line painted along the length of the road. It is the marking the test asks about most, and it is the one that decides whether you may overtake.
Single barrier line on your side
You may not cross it and you may not drive on it. That holds even if the road ahead looks clear, and it holds for overtaking, for turning across it, and for moving into the oncoming lane to pass a stationary vehicle.
Broken line on your side, barrier line on the other
The line nearest you is the one that governs you. If the broken line is on your side you may cross when it is safe; the driver facing the solid line on the same stretch may not.
Double barrier lines
Two solid lines side by side mean neither direction may cross. They are used where the sight distance is short in both directions, such as a blind rise or a sharp curve.
Why the line is there
A barrier line is painted where a driver cannot see far enough ahead to overtake and return safely. Crossing it is not a technicality: it puts you in the oncoming lane exactly where you cannot see what is coming. At the general urban limit of 60 km/h a car covers about 17 metres every second, and at the rural 100 km/h about 28 metres every second, so the stretch of road a barrier line protects is crossed in a few seconds.
The two barrier-line questions the test asks
May you overtake when there is a solid white line on your side of the road? No, never. What does a solid white line on your side of the road mean? You may not cross it or overtake. Both appear in the 64 practice questions, and both have the same one-word answer.
Lane lines and edge lines
Broken white lane line
A broken white line separates lanes running in the same direction. You may cross it to change lanes or to overtake, once you have checked that the manoeuvre is safe and legal.
Yellow edge line
The yellow line along the left marks the edge of the roadway. You do not drive over it in normal driving. On some roads the surface to the left of it is a shoulder, not a lane, and it may carry pedestrians, cyclists or a stopped vehicle. You may never cross a solid yellow edge line to overtake on the left — that is the one overtaking-on-the-left rule the test states without exception.
Lane arrows
An arrow painted in a lane tells you the only direction that lane may take at the junction ahead. Once you are in the lane you must follow the arrow, so read the arrows early and choose the lane before the queue builds.
Lines across the road
Stop line
A solid line across your lane marks where you must stop for a stop sign or a red traffic light. Stop before the line, not on it and not past it. If there is no stop line, stop in line with the sign itself.
Yield line
A broken line across your lane marks a yield. You do not have to stop if the way is clear, but you must give way, and you must be able to stop if it is not.
Pedestrian crossing
Broad white stripes across the road mark a pedestrian crossing. A pedestrian already on the crossing has right of way, and you may not overtake another vehicle that has stopped at one.
Kerb and area markings
Red kerb line
A solid red line painted on the kerb means no stopping at any time. That is stricter than a no-parking rule: you may not stop there even for a moment to let a passenger out.
Painted island
An area of white chevrons or diagonal stripes is a painted island. Treat it as though it were a raised kerb: do not drive across it, do not park on it, and do not use it to overtake.
Words painted on the road
A word painted on the surface is an instruction in the same way a sign is. The common ones are STOP before a stop line, SLOW ahead of a hazard, and BUS or TAXI where a lane is reserved.
How far from a marking you may park
Several of the distances the test asks about are measured from a marking or from the feature a marking sits at, so they are worth learning with the lines rather than separately.
| Measured from | Minimum distance |
|---|---|
| A pedestrian crossing | 9 m |
| A bridge | 6 m |
| An intersection | 5 m |
| A fire hydrant | 5 m |
| Another parked vehicle | 1.5 m |
| A fire lane | 1 m |
A red kerb line overrides all of them: where the kerb is painted red you may not stop at any distance, for any length of time. The full parking and stopping section is on the rules of the road page.
How road markings are asked in the test
Markings are inside the 28-question Road Signs section, and you need 23 of those 28 to pass it. The questions are about meaning rather than about the code of the marking, so learn the rule behind the line rather than memorising a list.
Three rules answer most marking questions. Solid means you may not cross. Broken means you may cross when it is safe. Yellow along the left is the edge of the road, and red on the kerb means no stopping at all.
Rules of the road · All road signs · Practice questions with answers
Note
This guide is written for learner-test study. Always follow local road signs, road markings, and instructions from traffic officers.