page_title: Controlled-access highway
section_title: South Africa
hierarchical_section_title: Controlled-access highway / Regional variation / Africa / South Africa
context_page_description: A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms include Interstate and throughway and parkway. Some of these may be limited-access highways, although this term can also refer to a class of highway with somewhat less isolation from other traffic.
  In countries following the Vienna convention, the motorway qualification implies that walking and parking are forbidden, and they are reserved for the use of motorized vehicles only.
  A controlled-access highway provides an unhindered flow of traffic, with no traffic signals, intersections or property access. They are free of any at-grade crossings with other roads, railways, or pedestrian paths, which are instead carried by overpasses and underpasses. Entrances and exits to the highway are provided at interchanges by slip roads, which allow for speed changes between the highway and arterials and collector roads.
context_section_description: In South Africa, the term freeway differs from most other parts of the world. A freeway is a road where certain restrictions apply.
  The following are forbidden from using a freeway:
  a vehicle drawn by an animal;
  a pedal cycle (such as a bicycle);
  a motorcycle having an engine with a cylinder capacity not exceeding 50 cm³ or that is propelled by electrical power;
  a motor tricycle or motor quadrucycle;
  pedestrians
  Drivers may not use hand signals on a freeway (except in emergencies) and the minimum speed on a freeway is 60 km/h (37 mph). Drivers in the rightmost lane of multi-carriageway freeways must move to the left if a faster vehicle approaches from behind to overtake.
  Despite popular opinion that "freeway" means a road with at least two carriageways, single carriageway freeways exist, as is evidenced by the statement that "the roads include 1,400 km (870 mi) of dual carriageway freeway, 440 km (270 mi) of single carriageway freeway and 5,300 km (3,300 mi) of single carriage main road with unlimited access."
caption: Map of National Routes