You approach a junction with a circular sign, red border, showing a black U-shaped arrow with a red diagonal line drawn through it. What does this sign instruct you to do at this junction or along this length of road?
- Turn around only if no other vehicles are approaching
- Reverse instead of turning around if the road is too narrow
- Give way to any vehicle already part-way through turning around
- Not perform a U-turn at all while the order is in force
Why D? And why not the others?
Correct answer: D. Not perform a U-turn at all while the order is in force
The circular red-bordered sign with a U-shaped arrow crossed by a red diagonal bar is the 'No U-turns' order (diagram 614), used at a junction or over a length of road where turning around in the carriageway would be unsafe or would disrupt traffic, for example near a bend, a busy junction, or a section with poor visibility. Like every red-circle order sign, it prohibits the manoeuvre outright rather than making it conditional: the presence or absence of other traffic does not switch the ban on or off, so treating a clear road as an exception is incorrect. Suggesting a driver reverse instead misreads the sign entirely — the order concerns turning to face the opposite direction, not the specific technique used, and reversing to achieve the same turn is still the prohibited manoeuvre. Describing right-of-way for a vehicle already mid-turn also misreads it: the sign does not regulate priority between vehicles, it removes the manoeuvre from the road entirely while the order applies.
Source: DfT Know Your Traffic Signs — Regulatory signs (No U-turns, diagram 614, GOV.UK); The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002