2.3 Regulatory Signs: Prohibitions and Mandatory Orders

Regulatory signs give orders. Breaking them is an offence under regulation 103, and some breaches carry demerit points: failing to obey a stop sign is in the 4-point group of the Sixth Schedule to the Road Traffic Act. This section goes through every order sign drawn in the Ninth Schedule to the Road Traffic Regulations, 1984.

Priority signs

At a STOP sign you must stop even if you can see that the road is empty. At a GIVE WAY sign you may continue without stopping if the way is clear, but you must not make a vehicle on the major road slow down or swerve.

Prohibitions: what you must not do

These are circles with a red ring or a red disc.

• No entry: a red disc with a white horizontal bar. Vehicles must not enter, for example at the "wrong" end of a one-way street. Barbados test papers describe it as "a red circular road sign with a rectangular white line in the middle."
• All vehicles prohibited in both directions: a plain white disc inside a red ring. No vehicle may use the road from either end.
• All motor vehicles prohibited: a red ring showing a car and a motorcycle. Motor vehicles may not enter, though pedal cycles and pedestrians may.
• Cycles and mopeds prohibited: a red ring showing a bicycle.
• No left turn, no right turn and no U turns: a black arrow struck through by a red diagonal.
• No overtaking: two cars side by side inside a red ring. You must not overtake moving motor vehicles until the restriction ends.
• Laden weight limit: a red ring with a weight such as "10 TONNES." Vehicles heavier than that when loaded must not pass.
• Speed limit: a red ring with a number, which is the maximum in kilometres per hour. The end of speed limit sign is a white disc crossed by a black diagonal band. After it, the general limit for your class of vehicle applies (see 6.1).
• No waiting: a disc with a red border and one red diagonal. You may stop briefly to pick up or set down passengers, but you must not wait.
• No stopping on carriageway: a disc with a red border and two red diagonals forming a cross. You must not stop on the carriageway at all, not even to set down a passenger.

Mandatory signs: what you must do

These are blue circles with white symbols.

Do not confuse the blue circular "ahead only" sign with the rectangular one-way street sign. The circle is an order at that point. The rectangle tells you that all traffic on that road flows one way (see 2.4).

Applying regulatory signs correctly

1. Orders apply whatever the traffic. A no-entry or no-right-turn sign applies at 3 am on an empty road.
2. Combine sign and markings. A STOP sign usually has a solid stop line. Stop with the front of the vehicle behind it, then edge forward to look if your view is blocked.
3. Watch for plates. Times, vehicle types and distances on plates limit or extend the order.
4. Police directions come first. If a uniformed officer directs traffic, follow the officer (see 3.2).

Exam traps with order signs

• STOP versus GIVE WAY. Only STOP requires a stop every time. Rolling slowly past a STOP line without stopping is failing to obey the sign, even when the road is empty.
• "Red circle" does not always mean the same thing. A red disc with a white bar is no entry. A red ring around a white centre is all vehicles prohibited. A red ring with a symbol prohibits only what the symbol shows.
• Blue circle versus blue rectangle. Circles are orders. A rectangle is information, even when it contains an arrow.
• End of a limit. The black diagonal band does not mean "no limit". It means the general limit for your vehicle now applies, which is 60 km/h for most cars.