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L22 / 9 Minutes

Regulatory signs

Prohibitions, mandatory signs, speed, zones

text

Orders and prohibitions

Regulatory signs are mostly round: red border = prohibition, blue background = mandatory. They apply from the sign onwards. Section restrictions such as speed limits or overtaking bans do not end automatically at junctions, but at an end sign, after the length stated on a plate – or, when paired with a warning sign, where the hazard clearly ends.

signs

Traffic bans

compare

Sign 250 or 267?

250 (white disc, red border)

  • No vehicles of any kind
  • Bicycles and motorcycles may be pushed
  • Exceptions only via plates

267 (red with white bar)

  • No entry – only from this side
  • Usually at the end of a one‑way street
  • Cyclists only if a plate allows it
signs

Weight and dimensions

facts

Reading weights and dimensions correctly

  • 253: no motor vehicles over 3.5 t permissible total mass
  • Cars and buses are exempt from sign 253
  • 253 with a “7.5 t” plate: applies only above 7.5 t
  • 262: actual mass – for combinations, each vehicle separately
  • 263: actual axle load
  • 264, 265, 266: width, height, length – including the load
  • Height: count roof boxes and bikes on the roof
signs

Speed and overtaking

facts

Speed limits and overtaking bans

  • 274 applies from the sign until cancelled by 278 or 282
  • With a “when wet” plate: only on a wet road
  • 30 zone: usually right before left, valid until the zone ends
  • 275: minimum speed – slower vehicles may not use that lane
  • 276: no overtaking of multi‑track motor vehicles
  • At 276 allowed: overtaking cyclists, mopeds, solo motorcycles
signs

Mandatory signs and directions

signs

Special paths and zones

tip

Remember: red forbids, blue commands

Red border: this is forbidden. Blue background: this is mandatory. Grey with a diagonal stripe: a restriction ends. And with zone signs, the rule applies to the whole area – until the matching end sign.

check

An overtaking ban (sign 276) is in force. Whom may you still overtake in your car?

  1. A cyclist
  2. A tractor
  3. A motorcycle without a sidecar
Check answer

A cyclist
A motorcycle without a sidecar

Sign 276 only bans overtaking multi‑track motor vehicles and motorcycles with sidecars. A tractor is multi‑track.

check

Before an underpass, a sign limits height to 3.8 m. Your van is 2.9 m tall with a 1 m high load on the roof. May you drive through?

  1. Yes – the sign only applies to the vehicle without load
  2. No – vehicle and load together are 3.9 m high
  3. Yes – if I drive slowly in the middle
Check answer

No – vehicle and load together are 3.9 m high

Height limits apply to the vehicle including its load. 3.9 m is too high.