Warning signs
Bicycles In Road sign
This plaque is mounted below a bicycle warning sign on a road with no separate bike lane. It tells drivers that cyclists ride in the travel lane itself, and may use the full lane when it is too narrow to share side by side.
- Wide rectangle
- Yellow
- MUTCD W16-1P
Shape and background first
Federal designation W16-1P in the MUTCD, the national standard every state signs to. Common on narrow rural highways and older city streets that were never widened enough to fit a marked bike lane alongside traffic.
What the MUTCD specifies
Designation: W16-1P
MUTCD Section 2C.67
Conventional road size: 18 x 12 in
Source: Federal Highway Administration, MUTCD 11th Edition (December 2023), Part 2, Table 2C-1, verified 2026-09-26.
How states handle it
A handful of states have replaced this plaque with a green Bicycles May Use Full Lane sign that states the rule directly instead of leaving it implied.
What the test wants you to know
The mistake people make
This is a supplemental plaque rather than a stand alone sign, so it always rides underneath the diamond bicycle symbol instead of appearing on its own. Tests use it to check whether you know a cyclist can legally take the whole lane, which surprises drivers who expect bikes to hug the curb no matter what.
The sign people confuse it with
Bicycles In Road gets mixed up with Bike Lane 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.
Bicycles In Road
This plaque is mounted below a bicycle warning sign on a road with no separate bike lane.
Bike Lane
The lane it marks is reserved for bicycles.
