Sharp Turn Right sign

Federal designation W1-1 in the MUTCD, the national standard every state signs to. Posted on rural two lane roads and ramp approaches where a road that has been running straight suddenly changes direction, often paired with chevron markers through the turn itself.

How to recognise it

This sign is a diamond stood on its point in yellow, the warning colour. Yellow diamonds telling you what the road is about to do. They are advisory rather than mandatory, but ignoring them is how people end up in ditches and how examiners end up failing you.

What the test wants you to know

The arrow bends close to a right angle rather than sweeping gently, which is the visual cue that separates a turn sign from a curve sign. Advisory speeds under a turn sign often sit 15 to 20 mph below the road's regular limit, and holding the regular limit into one is a common way examiners fail a candidate on a road test.

The sign people confuse it with

Sharp Turn Right gets mixed up with Right Curve 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.

Sharp Turn RightThe road ahead makes a sharp turn to the right, sharper than an ordinary curve

Right CurveThe road ahead bends to the right

Practise it

Reading about a sign is not the same as recognising it in half a second with an examiner watching. Every state road signs test on this site shows the sign and asks you to name it, then shows four faces and asks you to pick the right one.

Take a road signs test