What does the divided highway begins sign mean?

This sign appears on a road you are driving along. What changes just ahead?

The roadway splits around a median and you keep to the right side

A median means oncoming traffic is physically separated from yours from this point on. The one thing you have to get right is which side is yours, because a divider gives you no chance to correct after the split.

This sign appears ahead of you on a two way road. What is about to change?

The road divides around a median, and you keep to the right hand side

A median or barrier is about to separate the two directions of travel, so you take the roadway on the right. Because opposing traffic is physically held apart past this point the road feels safer, and that is exactly when speed creeps up without a driver noticing.

This sign faces you on a road you have been sharing with oncoming traffic. What happens ahead?

The road splits around a median and you keep to the right side

From this point each direction gets its own roadway with a median between them. You take the right hand roadway, which matches the side of the road you already drive on. Nothing about the choice is optional, even though the split can look like a fork.

This sign appears as you approach a stretch where the highway is about to change its layout. What is about to happen, and what should you do?

The road splits around a median, so keep to the right side of it

From here the two directions are separated by a median or a barrier, and each roadway carries traffic one way only. Taking the left side would put you against traffic on a road where nobody is looking for a vehicle coming at them. Watch for the point where the median starts, because that is where the two streams part.

You have just passed this sign. What can you now assume about the road you are on?

Traffic ahead of you is going the same way, and left turns will only be possible where the design allows

A divided road removes the head-on conflict, which makes lane changes the main risk instead. It also removes the ordinary left turn across oncoming traffic, since you can only cross the median at the openings and junctions provided.

You have just passed this sign and you realise you needed the roadway going the other way. What must you not do?

Cross the median to reach the other roadway

Once the median begins the two roadways are separate roads, and crossing between them puts you head on into traffic that has no reason to be looking for you. The only correct fix is to keep going to a proper crossing point or an exit.