No vehicles sign: what it means

No vehicles sign: a plain white circle with a red ring and nothing inside
Image: Crown copyright, OGL

The no vehicles sign, a plain red ring with nothing inside, means no vehicles may go past it except pedal cycles being pushed by hand.

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What it means

Know your traffic signs describes it as no vehicles except pedal cycles being pushed by hand. So cyclists get off and walk.

Plates under the sign can show the times when vehicles are banned, or exceptions such as access.

Where you see it

At the entrance to streets or areas closed to vehicles, often with a plate showing the times or exceptions.

A common mistake

Thinking an empty circle means nothing. The plain red ring bans more traffic than the no motor vehicles sign, because it also covers bicycles that are being ridden.

Quick quiz

A cyclist reaches a no vehicles sign with no plate. What should they do?

  1. Ride through slowly
  2. Get off and push the bicycle
  3. Ride through if it is quiet
Show answer

B. Get off and push the bicycle. The sign allows pedal cycles only when they are pushed by hand. 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: Keep left 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.