Irish Road Markings: Lines, Yellow Boxes and Arrows
53 signs, each with what it means and the rule behind it.All 53 signs
zebra pedestrian crossing
At a zebra crossing you yield to a pedestrian waiting at the kerb as well as to one already on the stripes (article 8(6)).
zebra pedestrian crossing without belisha beacons
zebra pedestrian crossing of a cycle track
A zebra crossing across a cycle track shifts the duty onto riders: cyclists and e-moped and electric scooter drivers yield to pedestrians there (article 8(6B)).
Pedestrian crossing complex (signalised)
The zig-zag markings at a signalised crossing mean parking is prohibited on that part of the road (Reg. 56).
Pedestrian crossing signals
Pedestrian crossing signals
parallel zebra crossing
A parallel zebra has a pedestrian half in stripes and a cycle half in squares, and drivers yield to both sides of it (article 8(6C)).
parallel zebra crossing without belisha beacons
combined zebra crossing
A combined crossing puts pedestrians and riders on the same crossing, and the duty to yield covers everyone waiting or already out on it (article 8(6D)).
combined zebra pedestrian crossing without belisha beacons
continuous centre line
A continuous white centre line is not crossed to overtake; you may cross it to reach premises on your right, and a long vehicle may straddle it where the lane is too narrow (article 25).
broken centre line
A broken centre line may be crossed, but only where the road ahead is clear and long enough to finish the move and get back (articles 10(2) and 25).
lane line
The lane line marks the edge of your lane, and you move out of it only after yielding to traffic already in the lane you want (article 8(8)).
a white arrow pointing straight ahead
A straight arrow painted in the lane is an instruction: article 27 requires traffic to follow the arrows in the lane it is in.
a white arrow pointing or curved to the left
a white arrow pointing or curved to the right
A right turn arrow in the lane commits that lane to the turn, so picking the lane late and cutting across is what the question is usually testing (article 27).
single yellow line
One yellow line means parking is restricted at the times shown on the plate beside it, not banned outright (Reg. 62, article 37(1)).
double yellow lines
Two yellow lines mean no parking at any time on that side of the road, with loading or unloading for up to 30 minutes the only exception (Reg. 63, article 36(2)(a)).
loading bay
A loading bay is for goods vehicles loading during its hours, for the time on the plate or, where there is none, up to 30 minutes (article 42).
School Entrance
School entrance markings beat any nearby parking sign: no stopping and no parking on them, whatever else is signed (article 41).
Parallel Parking Bays: Individual
Parallel Parking Bays: Individual with Buffer Zones
Perpendicular Parking Bay Markings
Angled Parking Bay Markings
Disabled Persons' Parking Bay Symbol
A disabled persons bay needs the permit displayed and the vehicle parked for the permit holder; stopping there without one is an offence in itself (article 44).
Parallel Parking Bays: Alternative with No Individual Bays
stop line
The stop line is the point traffic must not pass when stopping, so at a stop sign with a line painted you stop at the line (Reg. 69, article 20).
yield line
The yield line marks how far you may go while yielding, and a cyclist or e-moped or electric scooter driver at one yields to pedestrians as well as to traffic (Reg. 70, article 21).
no entry line
Past a no entry line you may not drive into the road beyond; the regulation allows only cycles, e-mopeds and electric scooters entering a cycle track or a contra-flow street (Reg. 71, article 28).
yellow box roadway marking
Enter a yellow box only if you can clear it without stopping, and the single exception is waiting there to turn right (article 29).
Merging and diverging marking
Hatched merging and diverging markings are neither a lane nor a refuge: traffic must not enter them at all (Reg. 73, article 26).
continuous white line sign
broken white line sign
A broken white line along a cycle track marks its right-hand edge and is the one edge line that lets a driver load beside the track for up to 30 minutes (Reg. 74(3), article 5(5)).
Bus Lane
The bus lane marking works with the blue lane sign above it, and the hours that matter come from the sign rather than from the paint (Reg. 75, article 32).
edge of roadway
The edge of an ordinary roadway is a broken yellow line, which is the quickest way to tell it from the continuous yellow line used down the left of a motorway (Regs. 76 and 77).
left edge of motorway or protected road
A continuous yellow line down the left of a motorway carriageway marks its edge, and a wider yellow line marks a hard shoulder given over to buses (Regs. 77 and 10A, as substituted and inserted by S.I. No. 205 of 2026).
right edge of motorway or protected road
The continuous white line on the far side marks the right-hand edge of the carriageway on a motorway or dual carriageway, not a lane you may drive in (Reg. 78).
access or exit lane
taxi stand
Bus stop markings
Bus stop markings carry the same ban as the bus stop sign: only a large public service vehicle may park on them (article 36(2)(l)).
Tram Stop Line
tram lane line
Mini-roundabout
The painted mini roundabout is driven around, not over, and you yield to whatever is already going round it (S.I. No. 332 of 2012, reg. 5).
car share vehicle parking bay
car share electric vehicle recharging and parking bay
electrically powered vehicle recharging bay
Only an electric vehicle that is actually recharging may stop or park in a recharging bay, so parking there to wait for a space is not allowed (article 44B).
Cycle Track Symbol
Non-Segregated Shared Track Symbol
elephant's footprint markings
The two rows of white squares, which the Regulations call elephant's footprints, mark the edge of a cycle track on a carriageway and the cycle half of a parallel crossing (Regs. 74(3) and 50).
a white arrow pointing or curved to the left and straight ahead
a white arrow pointing or curved to the right and straight ahead
a white arrow pointing or curved to the left and right
bus priority facility line (Continuous Yellow)
The Traffic Signs Manual numbers a further 41 codes in this chapter. They are not prescribed in the Road Traffic (Traffic Signs) Regulations 2025, and the manual's own wording is not ours to reprint, so they are not listed here. Sources: Department of Transport, Traffic Signs Manual; Irish Statute Book, Road Traffic (Traffic Signs) Regulations 2025, S.I. No. 433 of 2025; checked on 2026-09-15
43 sign codes
Source: Irish Statute Book, Road Traffic (Traffic Signs) Regulations 2025, S.I. No. 433 of 2025, Schedule 6, dated 2025-09-22, checked on 2026-09-15
10 sign codes
Source: Irish Statute Book, Road Traffic (Traffic Signs) Regulations 2025, S.I. No. 433 of 2025, Schedule 5, dated 2025-09-22, checked on 2026-09-15
Road markings are traffic signs in Irish law, with their own codes and their own regulations. Every RRM marking and every RPC crossing is prescribed by the Road Traffic (Traffic Signs) Regulations 2025 (S.I. No. 433 of 2025, as amended by S.I. No. 205 of 2026), and the Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations 1997 say what you must do when you reach one. The road markings chapter of the Traffic Signs Manual adds the M series, which no regulation prescribes, so some paint on an Irish road carries no legal reference at all.
White, yellow and orange paint
White marks where traffic goes: centre lines, lane lines, arrows, stop and yield lines, box junctions and the right-hand edge of a motorway. Yellow marks where you may not leave a vehicle, and it also marks the left-hand edge of a motorway carriageway.
Orange is temporary. At roadworks the centre lines, the lane line, the direction arrows and the hatched markings are laid in orange instead of white (Reg. 61), and article 27A of the Traffic and Parking Regulations 1997 gives those orange markings the same effect as the white ones they stand in for. Where both are visible, the orange ones are the ones to follow.
Markings that only exist in words
Many RRM codes have no drawing in the instrument. The yellow lines, the stop and yield lines, the no entry line, the box junction and the motorway edge lines are all described in the regulation text, sometimes down to the width of the line and the length of each segment.
That matters when you are checking an answer. For a marking with no schedule drawing, the regulation is the design, and the amending instrument is where the current wording of the motorway edge lines now sits.
A marking and a sign often work as a pair
The Regulations tie several markings to the sign above them. A bus lane needs the lane sign and the painted lane marking together, a cycle track needs the cycle track sign with a track symbol or an edge line, a stop sign is normally backed by a stop line, and a mini roundabout sign goes with the painted dome.
If a question shows you only the paint, look for the sign it belongs to before you answer, because the hours and the exemptions live on the sign and its plate.
- Bus lane sign with the painted lane marking.
- Cycle track sign with the track symbol, a continuous or broken edge line, or the square footprint markings.
- Stop sign with the stop line, yield sign with the yield line.
- Mini roundabout sign with the painted dome on the roadway.
Sources
Source: irishstatutebook.ie, Road Traffic (Traffic Signs) Regulations 2025 (S.I. No. 433 of 2025), checked on 2026-09-16
Source: irishstatutebook.ie, Road Traffic (Traffic Signs) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 (S.I. No. 205 of 2026), checked on 2026-09-16
Source: irishstatutebook.ie, Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) Regulations 1997 (S.I. No. 182 of 1997), checked on 2026-09-16
Source: irishstatutebook.ie, Road Traffic (Traffic and Parking) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 (S.I. No. 332 of 2012), checked on 2026-09-16