Do not enter

What it means

The do-not-enter sign marks the wrong end of a one-way road, a restricted ramp or an exit-only lane, and its message is absolute: traffic may not pass this sign in your direction. Unlike most regulatory signs it does not describe a condition you can satisfy by adjusting speed or position; it closes the road ahead entirely for the way you are heading. You meet it most often at interstate off-ramps, where driving the wrong way against high-speed traffic is among the deadliest errors a driver can make.

How it gets misread

A dangerous misread is treating the sign as advisory, something that merely warns of a restriction further along. Another is assuming it applies only at certain hours or to trucks. The sign has no conditions attached: if you are facing it, the road ahead is closed to you.

What to do

Never drive past the sign. Stop before it, check your mirrors and surroundings, and turn around at the first safe and legal opportunity to rejoin traffic moving in the correct direction. If you have just turned onto the road by mistake, correct the error immediately rather than continuing in hope that the restriction ends around the next corner, because on a ramp it usually ends in fast oncoming traffic instead.

Practise this rule

• Red Rectangle With a White Bar | CO

  Nearly entering a ramp, a driver sees a red rectangular sign carrying white lettering and a white bar. What does it mean?

More regulatory signs

• Wrong way →
• Speed limit 25 →

Browse all road signs