Prohibitory signs tell you what you must not do, or set a limit you must keep. There are 33 on the chart, almost as many as the warning signs. Most are white circles with a red ring, and many have a red bar across the picture to show that the thing in it is banned.
They cover a lot of ground: which vehicles may enter, which turns you may make, how fast, how heavy, how tall, and where you may stop. That's why they reward learning in groups.
Red ring means don't
The Ministry of Roads road signs manual describes prohibitory signs as instructions about moves that are not allowed, such as banned turns or entry, and lists speed limits, clearways and weight limits as further examples. It says most are circular, with a red border and a cancellation bar.
Set them against the other round signs:
- White inside a red ring: don't, or don't go over this limit.
- Blue with white: do this. See mandatory signs.
- Blue with a red ring and red bars: the parking and stopping signs. These are prohibitory too, even though they're blue inside.
The six groups
Entry. No entry is a solid red disc with a white bar, and it closes a road from your side only, usually the wrong end of a one-way street. Road closed is an empty red ring, and it bans every vehicle from both directions. Then there's a long run of bans on one kind of road user: motorcycles, bicycles, pedestrians, animal-drawn carts, hand carts, farm vehicles, heavy goods vehicles and power-driven vehicles. In each one, the picture in the ring is the thing that may not go in.
Size and weight. Limits on height, width, length, total weight and weight on one axle. The figure tells you the limit, and the triangles or drawings around it tell you what's being measured.
Turns. No left turn, no right turn and no U-turn. Read the full shape of the arrow, not just the bar.
Overtaking and speed. No overtaking of four-wheeled vehicles, no overtaking of goods vehicles, the speed limit and the end of speed limit, plus the sign that ends all earlier bans at once.
Stopping and control. The school children stop sign, the control post stop sign, priority for oncoming traffic, and the ban on horns.
Parking. Parking prohibited and no stopping, plus the zone version.
Numbers: read what comes after them
Several prohibitory signs carry a number, and the number means something different on each.
- A number alone in a red ring is a speed limit, in kilometres per hour.
- A number followed by T is a weight in tonnes, and it has nothing to do with speed. If there's an axle drawn under it, the limit is per axle, not for the whole vehicle.
- A number between two triangles pointing in from above and below is a height. Pointing in from the sides, it's a width.
- The same number crossed through with thin black lines, on white with no red ring, means that limit has ended.
One bar or two
The two parking signs are blue with a red ring, and the difference is in the bars. The manual's no-parking sign has a single bar. Its no-stopping sign has a red X, and it marks a clearway, where you may not stop or park during the hours shown on a plate below. The end of a clearway is marked with the same sign and an END plate.
So count the red lines: one means don't park, two means don't even stop, not to drop someone off and not to answer the phone.
Empty ring, solid disc
Two signs carry almost no picture at all, and they're easy to mix up.
- No entry: solid red, with a white bar across. You may not go in from this side, usually because traffic is coming towards you.
- Road closed: white inside, with just the red ring. The manual shows it with a pedestrian zone plate and opening hours below. No vehicle may enter from either end.
Same picture, opposite meaning
Most of the pictures on prohibitory signs also turn up somewhere else. A bicycle in a red ring bans bicycles, but a bicycle on blue gives them a track. A number in a red ring is the most you may do, but a number on blue is the least. A right-turn arrow under a red bar bans the turn, but the same arrow in white on blue orders it. Always read the colour before the picture.
How to learn them
Thirty-three is a lot in one sitting. Drill one group at a time on the Pelican chart trainer, starting with the turns and the numbers, which come up on every drive. Then mix them with the mandatory signs to practise telling red from blue, and use the 3D trainer to read the figures from an angle. For a full study plan, see how to memorise Kenyan road signs.
All 33 prohibitory signs
- No entryYou may not enter this road or area at all. You'll often see this at one-way streets and restricted zones.
- Road closedNo vehicle may enter, from either direction. It's often used to keep a street for people on foot, with a plate underneath giving the hours.
- Entry forbidden to all vehiclesNo vehicle of any kind may go past here, with or without a motor.
- Entry forbidden to all motor cyclesMotor cycles may not go past here. Riders must find another route.
- Entry forbidden to all bicyclesBicycles may not go past here. Cyclists must get off and find another route.
- No entry for pedestriansPedestrians may not use this road or area. Find another route or crossing on foot.
- No entry for animal drawn vehiclesCarts, wagons and other vehicles pulled by animals are not allowed. Find another route.
- No entry to all hand cartsHand-pushed carts, trolleys and barrows may not go past here.
- No entry for farm vehiclesFarm vehicles such as tractors are not allowed. Use the routes set aside for them.
- No entry for heavy commercial vehiclesTrucks, lorries and other heavy goods vehicles are not allowed. Use the routes set aside for them.
- No entry for power driven vehiclesNo motorised vehicles are allowed. Non-motorised transport may be permitted.
- No entry for power driven or animal vehiclesVehicles with motors and vehicles pulled by animals are both banned. Access is for pedestrians or emergencies only.
- No entry for vehicles exceeding width shownIf your vehicle is wider than the width shown, you can't go on. Find another route.
- No entry for vehicles exceeding height shownIf your vehicle is taller than the height shown, don't go on. You could hit something overhead, such as a bridge.
- No entry for vehicles exceeding weight shownIf your vehicle is heavier than the weight shown, you may not go on. You'll often see this near bridges with load limits.
- No entry for vehicles exceeding weight shown on one axleIf any one axle carries more than the weight shown, don't go on. Overloading can damage roads and bridges.
- No entry for vehicles exceeding length shownIf your vehicle, including any trailer, is longer than the length shown, you can't go on. Find a route that takes long vehicles.
- No entry: vehicles must keep minimum distance shownKeep at least the distance shown between you and the vehicle in front. You'll often see this in tunnels and on bridges.
- No left turnYou may not turn left at this junction. Go straight on or turn right, where that's allowed.
- No right turnYou may not turn right at this junction. Go straight on or turn left, where that's allowed.
- No U-turnYou may not make a U-turn here. Turn around further on, somewhere safe and legal.
- Overtaking of four-wheeled vehicles prohibitedYou may not overtake cars or other four-wheeled vehicles here, usually because poor visibility or a narrow road makes it dangerous.
- Overtaking of goods vehicles prohibitedYou may not overtake trucks or lorries on this stretch. Stay behind goods vehicles until the ban ends.
- Speed limitStay at or below the speed shown, in km/h, until you reach an end-of-limit sign.
- Sounding of horns or sirens prohibitedDon't use your horn or any other audible warning here. You'll often see this near hospitals, schools and homes.
- Stop at control postYou must stop at this control point, such as a checkpoint, toll gate or border post, and wait to be cleared before moving on.
- Stop: children schoolYou must stop when children are crossing. You'll see this by school entrances with a crossing patrol or crossing zone.
- Priority for on-coming trafficOncoming vehicles go first on this narrow stretch. Wait until the road is clear before you go through.
- End of all prohibitionsEvery earlier ban on moving vehicles ends here. Normal rules apply.
- End of speed limitThe speed limit that applied here has ended. Normal limits for this type of road apply, unless another sign says otherwise.
- Parking prohibitedYou may not park here. Keep going and find somewhere legal to leave your vehicle.
- Parking or waiting prohibitedYou may not park or even stop for a moment here. Keep going and find somewhere legal to stop.
- No stopping zoneYou may not stop anywhere in the marked zone, for any reason, including to drop off passengers.
Sources
- Design Manual for Roads and Bridges, Part 5a: Road Signs, Ministry of Roads, draft of December 2009. Chapter 5 covers regulatory signs, including the no-stopping, parking, weight and pedestrian zone signs.
- The sign artwork and codes are from the chart used in the DriveRush trainers.