Warning signs
Cattle Crossing sign
Livestock may be on or crossing the road ahead, often without a fence to stop them. Slow down and be ready to stop well short of an animal in your lane.
- Diamond
- Yellow
- MUTCD W11-4
Shape and background first
Federal designation W11-4 in the MUTCD, the national standard every state signs to. Placed near open range areas and ranch land where fencing is minimal, most often in the western and southwestern states that still allow free range grazing.
What the MUTCD specifies
Designation: W11-4
MUTCD Section 2C.55
Conventional road size: 30 x 30 in
Source: Federal Highway Administration, MUTCD 11th Edition (December 2023), Part 2, Table 2C-1, verified 2026-09-26.
How states handle it
In open range states a driver can be held liable for hitting livestock on an unfenced road even where this sign is not posted, which is not true everywhere.
What the test wants you to know
The mistake people make
Unlike a deer crossing, cattle are large, slow and often move as a group, so the safe response is a full stop rather than a swerve. Test questions sometimes swap this sign with deer crossing to check whether you notice the animal silhouette is different.
The sign people confuse it with
Cattle Crossing gets mixed up with Deer Crossing more than any other pairing in this category. Put them side by side and the difference is obvious, which is exactly why it is worth doing once rather than meeting them cold in the exam.
Cattle Crossing
Livestock may be on or crossing the road ahead, often without a fence to stop them.
Deer Crossing
Animals frequently cross this stretch of road.
