No motor vehicles sign: what it means

No motor vehicles sign: a white circle with a red ring, showing a black motorcycle above a black car
Image: Crown copyright, OGL

The no motor vehicles sign means motor vehicles, including cars and motorcycles, must not go past it. Pedal cycles are not motor vehicles, so it does not ban them.

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What it means

Red circles prohibit. This one shows a motorcycle and a car together, and Know your traffic signs describes it simply as no motor vehicles.

A plate under the sign can add exceptions, such as access to premises or land next to the road where there is no other route.

Where you see it

At the entrance to roads, lanes or areas closed to motor traffic, sometimes with a plate showing times or exceptions.

A common mistake

Reading the motorcycle as permission for motorcycles. Both symbols are inside the red ring, so both are banned. A different sign bans motor vehicles except solo motorcycles.

Quick quiz

Which of these may still pass a no motor vehicles sign that has no plate?

  1. A motorcycle
  2. A car
  3. A pedal cycle
Show answer

C. A pedal cycle. The sign bans motor vehicles, and a pedal cycle is not a motor vehicle. Source: The Highway Code, rule 109, GOV.UK; Know your traffic signs: regulatory signs, GOV.UK; The Highway Code: traffic signs, GOV.UK; Traffic sign images, Department for Transport, GOV.UK

Compare with

Next in regulatory signs: No vehicles sign. See all regulatory signs or the full road signs list.

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Sources

  1. The Highway Code, rule 109, GOV.UK
  2. Know your traffic signs: regulatory signs, GOV.UK
  3. The Highway Code: traffic signs, GOV.UK
  4. Traffic sign images, Department for Transport, GOV.UK

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Traffic sign images are Crown copyright, from the Department for Transport. Sources and image credits.