K53

Module 3 of 26

Signs that forbid

A white disc with a red rim means no. The symbol tells you what is prohibited, and a red stroke through it is the giveaway — though several of these carry no stroke at all, which is where people lose the mark.

White discs with a red rim. Each one removes something you would otherwise be allowed to do, and several of them run for a set distance rather than to the next junction.

Reading a prohibition sign

The symbol shows the thing that is forbidden. A red diagonal stroke through it is common but not universal — several prohibition signs carry no stroke at all, and candidates lose marks assuming a sign without one must mean something else.

A temporary version of any of these has a yellow disc instead of a white one. The meaning is identical; only the duration differs.

No entry is not the same as no turn

A red disc with a single broad white bar across the middle.

A solid red disc with one white bar means no vehicle may enter that road at all, in any direction, at any time. It usually marks the exit of a one-way street.

The turn prohibitions are different: a white disc with a red rim showing an arrow struck through. Those forbid one movement at one intersection.

Where people lose the markTreating no entry as though it applies only to turning in. It applies to entering at all.

S and P

A white disc with a broad red rim, showing a black letter S with a red stroke through it.

South Africa uses letters where many countries use bars. A black S struck through means no stopping. A black P struck through means no parking.

The difference matters more than people expect. Parking is leaving the vehicle standing; stopping includes pausing for a moment to let someone out. Where stopping is prohibited, you may not even pause.

Work it through

You want to drop a passenger outside a building. There is a sign with a struck-through S.

You may not stop there at all, even for a few seconds.

No stopping is stricter than no parking. If the sign had shown a P you could have paused to drop someone.

Where people lose the markUsing the two interchangeably. Every no-stopping place is also a no-parking place, but not the reverse.

The overtaking prohibition runs for 500 m

A white disc with a red rim, showing two black cars side by side with a red stroke through them.

Two black cars struck through means overtaking is prohibited for the next 500 metres — not until the next bend, and not until you judge it safe.

There is a second version showing two goods vehicles. That one prohibits overtaking by goods vehicles only, again for 500 m, and ordinary traffic may still pass.

Carry this into the practice

  • Red rim forbids; a yellow disc is the temporary version of the same sign.
  • No stopping is stricter than no parking — S beats P.
  • The overtaking prohibitions run for 500 m, not to the next junction.