Prohibition signs

What is a prohibition sign?

A round sign with a red border is a prohibition sign. The symbol on the sign shows what is not allowed. A prohibition starts at the sign. Where it ends depends on the sign:

• An end sign lifts the prohibition earlier. That is the same sign with black lines through it, such as F2 (end of no overtaking). Or it is the white sign with three black lines (F8): that ends all prohibitions shown by signs. See below.
• A sub-sign can say over what length the prohibition applies. A distance with arrows pointing up, such as "3 km", means: the prohibition applies from the sign for 3 kilometres.
• If the word "zone" is above the sign, the prohibition lasts longer: in the whole area, including side streets, until the "einde zone" sign.
• A closure (a C sign, such as "closed to lorries") closes the road you enter at the sign. There is no end sign for it.

What does a round white sign with a red border mean?

A round white sign with only a red border is sign C1: closed in both directions. You may not enter with any vehicle, not even a bicycle. Horse riders and people leading an animal may not enter either. Pedestrians may.

Difference between a prohibition sign and a mandatory sign

A round sign can have two functions: an obligation or a prohibition. The difference is in the colour:

• Blue = mandatory. For example following a specific direction or using a cycle path. A blue sign with a red diagonal line indicates the end of that obligation.
• Red = prohibited. Round signs with a red border indicate a prohibition: no entry, no parking, no overtaking. Red means something is not allowed, just like a red traffic light.

Blue = mandatory · Red = prohibited. Three signs about cyclists show the difference:

Prohibition	Obligation	End of obligation
C14: cyclists may not enter here.	G11: cyclists must use this path.	G12: the red line lifts the obligation.

More about the blue signs under mandatory signs.

Different prohibition signs you may come across

Most prohibition signs fall into three groups.

Closures

Which signs mean you may not enter? Those are the closures (C signs). The symbol shows for whom the road is closed.

• Sign C2: a round red sign with a white bar. You may not enter the road from this side. It is a one-way street going the other way. See one-way street sign.
• Sign C7: closed to lorries.
• Sign C16: pedestrians may not go here.

No parking and no stopping

• Sign E1 (no parking): parking is not allowed. Stopping briefly to let someone get in or out is allowed. So is loading and unloading. That is stopping, not parking.
• Sign E2 (no stopping): you may not stop here either. So no dropping off passengers and no loading or unloading.

Which side of the road they apply to and what "zone" above them means is explained on the page about parking signs.

Other prohibitions

• Sign F1 (no overtaking): motor vehicles may not overtake each other. Who you may still overtake is on the page about overtaking signs.
• Sign F7 (no U-turns): you may not turn round on this road.

End of prohibition rules: the sign with three lines

The end of earlier prohibition signs is shown by a white sign with three black diagonal lines (sign F8).

Remember it like this: three lines means the end of the prohibitions of earlier prohibition signs.

Note what this sign does not mean. It does not mean that no rules apply anymore. The normal road rules still apply. Only the prohibitions of earlier prohibition signs end.

A traffic sign with a line through it: what does it mean? Black lines through a sign always mean: end. If they run through a speed, only that speed limit ends. A red diagonal line through a blue sign is the end of an obligation. See mandatory signs.

Sub-signs with prohibition signs

A sub-sign often hangs below a prohibition sign. It can limit the prohibition (it then applies only to the vehicles on the sub-sign, or only at certain times) or make an exception with the word "uitgezonderd" (except). Everything about reading sub-signs is under sub-signs.

Except destination traffic

Below a closure you sometimes see "uitgezonderd bestemmingsverkeer" (except destination traffic). You may then still enter the road, but only if you are destination traffic. According to the law that means: your destination is on that road or right next to it, and you can reach it only via this road or another road subject to the same closure. Scheduled buses also count as destination traffic.

• Destination traffic: you live on that road, you are going to someone who lives there, or you need to be at a business on that road and there is no other route.
• Not destination traffic: you only drive through, for example to avoid a traffic jam or a traffic light.
• Not destination traffic: your address is in another street, or you can reach it via another unrestricted road.

Important prohibition signs for the CBR

Apart from the signs above, these prohibition signs often come back in exam questions. Look closely at the symbol: a small difference changes who the prohibition applies to.

• Sign C6: closed to motor vehicles on more than two wheels. Cars may not enter, motorcycles and mopeds may.
• Sign C12: closed to all motor vehicles, motorcycles included.
• Sign C10: closed to motor vehicles with a trailer.
• Sign C19: closed to vehicles that, load included, are higher than shown on the sign. C17 and C18 do the same for length and width.
• Sign F3: lorries may not overtake motor vehicles. F3 does not impose an overtaking ban on a passenger car. You may overtake only if the other rules and the situation allow it.

All prohibition signs and their meaning

Here are the other prohibition signs in one list. The symbol and the number show who the sign applies to. For length, width and height the load counts too. C20 is about the weight per axle, C21 about the total weight. The end of no-overtaking signs (F2 and F4) are on the page about overtaking signs.

Sign	Meaning
	C7A: No buses Closed to buses
	C7B: No buses or lorries Closed to buses and lorries
	C8: No tractors Closed to agricultural/forestry tractors, speed-restricted vehicles and mobile machinery
	C9: No slow traffic Closed to riders, cattle, carts, (moped) bicycles and slow-moving vehicles
	C11: No motorcycles Closed to motorcycles
	C13: No mopeds Closed to mopeds and disability vehicles with the engine running
	C14: No bicycles Closed to bicycles and disability vehicles without a motor
	C15: No bicycles or mopeds Closed to bicycles, mopeds and disability vehicles
	C17: Maximum length Closed to vehicles and combinations longer than 10 metres (the value on this example sign)
	C18: Maximum width Closed to vehicles wider than 2.3 metres (the value on this example sign)
	C20: Maximum axle load Closed to vehicles with an axle load above 4.8 tonnes (the value on this example sign)
	C21: Maximum total mass Closed to vehicles above the indicated total mass or combined axle load
	C22: No dangerous goods Closed to vehicles carrying certain dangerous goods
	F5: Give way to oncoming traffic Do not proceed when traffic is approaching from the opposite direction
	F6: Priority over oncoming traffic Oncoming traffic must give way to traffic from this direction
	F9: End of electronically signed restrictions End of all prohibitions shown on an electronic signalling sign
	F10: Stop for customs or police Stop; the sign may show by whom or why you must stop

CBR traps with prohibition signs

Many mistakes happen because two signs look alike. These pairs are often mixed up:

❌ Wrong: mixing up no parking (E1, one line) and no stopping (E2, a cross). ✅ Right: at E1 you may stop briefly to let someone get in or out, or to load and unload. At E2 you may not.

❌ Wrong: reading C1 (white with a red border) as "closed from this side only". ✅ Right: C1 is closed in both directions. C2 (red with a white bar) only closes the road from your side.

❌ Wrong: confusing C1 or C2 with the blue square sign C3. ✅ Right: C1 and C2 are prohibition signs: do not enter. C3 is a one-way street: you may enter in the direction of the arrow.

❌ Wrong: thinking motorcycles may not enter at C6. ✅ Right: C6 only applies to motor vehicles on more than two wheels. At C12 motorcycles may not enter either.

❌ Wrong: thinking you may not overtake in your car at F3. ✅ Right: F3 only applies to lorries. F1 applies to all motor vehicles. A tractor is a motor vehicle too: at F1 you must not overtake it unless a sub-sign makes an exception.

❌ Wrong: thinking that no rules apply at all after the sign with three lines (F8). ✅ Right: only the prohibitions of earlier prohibition signs end. The normal rules still apply. Lines through a speed (A2) only end that speed limit.