Do not enter sign: what it means
The DO NOT ENTER sign means you must not drive into the road or ramp beyond it, because traffic there comes toward you, such as at the wrong end of a one-way road.
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What it means
MUTCD Section 2B.46 requires the sign where a two-way road becomes one-way, where a freeway exit ramp meets the crossroad, where a turning roadway meets a two-way undivided road, and at many divided highway crossings. Its job is to stop drivers from entering the wrong way.
An EXCEPT BICYCLES plaque may be added where bicycles are allowed to ride the other way.
Where you see it
At the exit end of one-way streets, at the end of freeway exit ramps, and at openings in divided highways.
A common mistake
Following a GPS app past it. The sign always wins: find another route.
Quick quiz
Where must a DO NOT ENTER sign be used?
- Where a two-way road becomes one-way
- At every school
- At the start of a speed zone
Show answer
A. Where a two-way road becomes one-way. Section 2B.46 lists a two-way road becoming one-way as one of the places the sign shall be used. Source: MUTCD 11th Edition, Chapter 2B, Regulatory Signs, Barricades, and Gates: Section 2B.46, FHWA; MUTCD 11th Edition, FHWA
Compare with
Wrong way signYou are going against traffic: turn around safely.
One way signAll traffic moves in the arrow’s direction.
Keep right signPass to the right of the island or obstacle.
Next in regulatory signs: Wrong way sign. See all regulatory signs or the full road signs list.
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Sources
- MUTCD 11th Edition, Chapter 2B, Regulatory Signs, Barricades, and Gates: Section 2B.46, FHWA
- MUTCD 11th Edition, FHWA. FHWA lists the current version as the 11th Edition with Revision 1, dated December 2025
Sign pictures are our own simplified drawings of the MUTCD designs, which are in the public domain (MUTCD Section 1D.06). Sources and image credits.