No U turn sign
You must not make a U turn at this intersection or along this length of road.
- Group
- Regulatory signs
- The group at a distance
- Mostly round, or a rectangular plate. Stop is the one octagon in the whole group and give way the one triangle. Usually white with a red ring or bar and a black legend. A few, like the shared path sign, are white on blue.
- Does this group carry the law
- Enforceable. Disobeying one is an offence in itself.
- In the sign deck
- 3 questions ask about this sign
What to do when you see it
In the order you do it, from the moment the sign comes into view.
- Do not turn back on yourself at this intersection or on this length of road.
- Carry on and use the next intersection where a U turn is allowed, or make three right turns around the block.
- Where a U turn is allowed, give way to every other vehicle and pedestrian before you start it.
Where you see it
At signalised intersections on busy arterials, on divided roads with a narrow median, at the top of freeway ramps, and near schools and shopping strips where the turn would block traffic.
Across the states and territories
The sign is national. The default underneath it is not the same everywhere: whether you may make a U turn at traffic lights without a sign permitting it differs between jurisdictions, so read the rule for the state or territory you are driving in rather than assuming the one you learned in.
Tell it apart from these
Both signs at the same size, next to each other, with the one line that separates them. These are the pairs people mix up under time pressure.
- No U turnthis pageNo right turn
A no right turn sign still lets you turn back at the next legal point. No U turn bans the turn back specifically, and a right turn may still be allowed.
No right turn: You must not turn right at this intersection.
- No U turnthis pageNo entry
No U turn restricts one manoeuvre. No entry closes the road.
No entry: You must not drive past this sign into the road ahead.
How the knowledge tests use it
Questions tend to focus on who gives way during a U turn, which is everyone, including a vehicle turning left into the road you are turning into.
A real question from the sign deckWhat does this sign mean?
The black arrow doubling back on itself is a U turn, and the red ring and bar ban it at this intersection or along this length of road.
State and territory driver handbooks, turning and U turns
Try it in a question
The sign tests draw the artwork above the question and ask what it means, which is closer to the way you meet a sign on the road than reading a page about it. They are original questions written for this site rather than an agency's published bank.
More regulatory signs
Mostly white with red or black, and usually round or rectangular.