Regulatory Signs: Commands, Prohibitions and Limits
Regulatory signs are the signs that tell you what you must do or must not do. In the Ghana DVLA theory test they are tested less on obscure symbols than on the logic of shape, colour and where a rule starts and ends: a red ring means a prohibition, a blue circle means a mandatory instruction, and the octagon and inverted triangle are reserved for STOP and GIVE WAY.
Shape and colour tell you the type of rule
- A red-bordered circle prohibits or restricts: no entry, no overtaking, no right turn, speed limit, weight limit.
- A blue circle commands: keep left or right, turn left ahead, minimum speed, route for a particular class of vehicle.
- STOP is the only octagonal sign; GIVE WAY is the only inverted triangle. Both require you to act at the line, not merely slow down.
- Rectangular plates below a sign add distance, time or vehicle class; they do not change the main symbol.
- No entry is a red circle with a white horizontal bar. No parking is a blue circle with a red border and one red diagonal; no stopping uses two diagonals forming a red X.
How long a regulatory sign applies
A speed-limit sign sets the maximum from the sign until a new limit or an end-of-limit sign; it does not end at the next side road unless the sign is repeated or the road layout clearly changes. A no-overtaking sign applies until it is cancelled. A STOP line requires a complete stop even when the road looks clear. A GIVE WAY line requires you to yield, and to stop if traffic or pedestrians make that necessary.
Worked example
You see a red-bordered circle containing 50 on a built-up road. The default urban limit in Ghana is 50 km/h, but the sign is still a maximum: you may drive at 40 or 30, but not 55. If the circle were blue with 50, it would be a minimum-speed sign, and driving slower without good reason would be an offence. Reasoning: the red ring sets a ceiling; the blue circle sets a floor. The number is not a target.
Traps that cost marks
- Treating a speed-limit sign as a recommended speed.
- Confusing STOP, which requires a complete stop at the line, with GIVE WAY, which requires yielding and stopping only if necessary.
- Confusing no entry, a red circle with a white bar, with no through road, a rectangular information sign.
- Assuming a prohibition ends at the next junction when the sign has not been cancelled.
- Reading a supplementary plate as the main rule.