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Bizarre road sign on Sydney highway sparks confusion: 'Does not exist'

An unusual display on a roadside speed limit sign had Sydneysiders baffled after a photo captured by a motorist was shared on social media.

The message board was spotted on the Pacific Highway in Warrawee, in the city's Upper North Shore, over the weekend and shows two smaller circles inside one larger one.

The odd display replaced what should have been the legal speed limit for that road where roadworks are currently underway. Alongside it, there's a speed camera warning sign for drivers — but the messaging was lost on people responding to the online post.

Speed limit message board on the Pacific Highway in Warrawee.
The unusual display on the message board on the Pacific Highway in Warrawee confused drivers. Source: Reddit.

Social media users mock failed message board

The post on Reddit, which has since been removed, was captioned "redundant speed camera", with the poster poking fun at the display error. Social media users took turns in trying to decipher what is meant by the message board display. Some suggested the sign says the speed limit is "00" meaning "a limit does not exist". Another said all they saw is "a pair of eyes watching".

"So they are saying there is no speed limit?" one person asked in the comments but some couldn't help but associate the sign with the infinity symbol — a mathematical symbol representing the concept of infinity.

In terms of numbers, the infinity symbol is used to represent the highest possible value. One person wrote "00 = unlimited". "You are allowed to travel at the speed of light in this zone," another mocked in the comments. "He is driving all the way to infinity and beyond," said another quoting the Disney movie Toy Story.

One person chimed in to say she saw the sign herself when she drove past it with her partner. "We got a good laugh," she admitted. She said she wondered "if anyone attempted to speed then argue that it’s an infinite speed limit" if caught.

Confusing sign explained

Wondering what went wrong, one person suggested someone "most likely hacked the sign to display infinity as a joke". "It’s been like that for a fortnight" another explained.

When approached by Yahoo News Australia, Transport for NSW confirmed there was a glitch causing the wrong message to be displayed, however they did not confirm if the message shown was an infinity symbol or 00. The sign was supposed to indicate the reduced speed of 40km/h which is in place while roadworks are carried out, a spokesperson confirmed. It has since been changed to reflect this.

Transport for NSW apologised for any confusion caused and thanked motorists for their patience while the roadworks continue.

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