All Dutch prohibition signs: meaning, and where the ban starts and ends
Prohibition signs are round with a red border. They say exactly one thing: this is not allowed here. The hard part is rarely the meaning, but how far the ban applies. Below are all 24 prohibition signs with meaning and memory hook.
Round and red means: not here
Those three shapes are the whole system. If you are in doubt in the exam, look at the shape first and only then at the picture: the shape already tells you whether the answer is "not allowed", "must" or "watch out". The same picture in a triangle and in a red circle means something completely different.
Where a ban starts, and where it ends
A prohibition sign applies from the sign onwards. Where it ends depends on the sign: some bans run to the next junction, others to an explicit end sign, and with zone signs the ban covers a whole area until the end-of-zone sign. That difference is where most mistakes happen. Speed works exactly the same way; it is worked out in Speed: all limits and exceptions.
All 24 prohibition signs
Jump to: C1 · C2 · C6 · C7 · C8 · C9 · C10 · C11 · C12 · C13 · C14 · C15 · C16 · C17 · C18 · C19 · C20 · C21 · C22 · C7a · C7b · F7 · F8 · F9
C1 — Closed in both directions for vehicles, riders and drivers of riding/draught animals or cattle
Memory hook: An empty white disc with a red rim: nothing inside, so no one gets in - closed in both directions.
C2 — One-way street, closed in this direction (no entry) for vehicles, riders and drivers of animals or cattle
Memory hook: Round red disc with a white horizontal bar: the bar blocks the way — 'do NOT enter'. You're at the wrong end of a one-way street.
C6 — Closed for motor vehicles with more than two wheels
Memory hook: Red circle with a car inside: anything on more than two wheels stays out - a motorcycle on two wheels still slips past.
C7 — Closed for trucks (lorries)
Memory hook: A fat red ring around a truck: 'Lorries, halt here!' - no truck may enter this road.
C8 — Closed for motor vehicles unable or not permitted to travel faster than 25 km/h
Memory hook: The red ring around the slow tractor: anything that can't top 25 stays outside this fence.
C9 — Closed to riders, livestock, carts, agricultural and forestry tractors, motor vehicles with limited speed, mobile machinery, micro-cars (brommobielen), bicycles, light mopeds, mopeds and disability vehicles
Memory hook: Red ring with a horse and cart: the slow crowd — riders, cattle and creeping carts — stays out here.
C10 — Closed for motor vehicles with a trailer
Memory hook: Red ring around a car towing a trailer: 'leave the little wagon at home' — no entry while you're pulling one.
C11 — Closed for motorcycles
Memory hook: The red circle with a motorcycle inside: no motorcycle may enter here, the roaring two wheels stay out.
C12 — Closed for all motor vehicles
Memory hook: A car and a motorcycle together in the red ring: everything with an engine stays out - no motor vehicle at all may enter.
C13 — Closed for mopeds, light mopeds (snorfietsen) and disabled-person vehicles with the engine running
Memory hook: The red ring with a little moped inside says: engine running? Then mopeds, light mopeds and disabled-person vehicles stay out.
C14 — Closed for bicycles and for non-motorised disabled-person vehicles
Memory hook: Red ring around a bicycle: pedals are banished here, and so is the hand-powered disabled cart - no wheels-by-muscle allowed.
C15 — Closed for bicycles, mopeds and disabled-person vehicles
Memory hook: Red ring around a bicycle: two-wheelers must brake - no bike or moped is allowed in.
C16 — Closed for pedestrians
Memory hook: The red ring cages the walker: no entry on foot, pedestrians must stay out.
C17 — Closed for vehicles and combinations longer than indicated (load included)
Memory hook: Red ring with a number and a long vehicle: too long is a no — if you exceed the length, you don't fit in.
C18 — Closed for vehicles wider than indicated (load included)
Memory hook: Red ring with two arrows pointing at each other: the road is measuring your waistline — too wide and you simply won't fit.
C19 — Closed for vehicles higher than indicated (load included)
Memory hook: The red circle with two arrows pointing inward like a low doorframe: too tall and you bump your head, this gate stops high roofs.
C20 — Closed for vehicles whose axle load exceeds the indicated value
Memory hook: The number in the red ring shows how much each axle may press: heavier axle load, and you stay out.
C21 — Closed for vehicles/combinations whose total mass exceeds the indicated value
Memory hook: A red ring with a fat number in tonnes: if your truck-plus-trailer weighs more than that figure, the road slams shut for you.
C22 — Closed for vehicles carrying certain dangerous goods
Memory hook: Red circle over a truck marked with hazard cargo: the danger-goods lorry is turned away - explosive or toxic loads stay out.
F7 — No U-turn (prohibition on turning around) up to the next junction
Memory hook: A black U-arrow inside a red prohibition ring: no turning back, hold on until the next junction.
F8 — End of all prohibitions indicated by traffic signs
Memory hook: Grey sign with everything struck through: one thick slash wipes away every ban — you're free again.
F9 — End of all prohibitions indicated on an electronic (matrix) signalling sign
Memory hook: A diagonal stripe through the matrix sign: every prohibition the sign gave is lifted - you are free again.
What the CBR does with these signs
Prohibition signs almost never appear on their own. They come in a situation: you see the sign and a side street, or the sign and a sub-sign that limits the ban to certain hours or vehicles. So always read the sub-sign as well. All sub-signs are in the sign library, and you can practise the situations in the right-of-way quiz.
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