Do Not Enter sign

Federal designation R5-1 in the MUTCD, the national standard every state signs to.

How to recognise it

This sign is a square in white, the standard background for a rule you must obey. These carry the force of law. Ignore one and you have broken a traffic rule, not just a guideline. Most are white rectangles with black text, and the handful that are not, the stop and yield signs, get their own unmistakable shapes.

What the test wants you to know

This one is usually posted at exit ramps and one way street entrances, paired with a Wrong Way sign further in. If you see it while driving, you have already made a mistake and should stop before entering.

The sign people confuse it with

Do Not Enter gets mixed up with Wrong Way more than any other pairing in this category. Put them side by side and the difference is obvious, which is exactly why it is worth doing once rather than meeting them cold in the exam.

Do Not EnterYou may not drive past this sign

Wrong WayYou are travelling against the flow of traffic

Practise it

Reading about a sign is not the same as recognising it in half a second with an examiner watching. Every state road signs test on this site shows the sign and asks you to name it, then shows four faces and asks you to pick the right one.

Take a road signs test