The red circle and slash over a U-shaped arrow prohibits turning around to travel back the way you came. It is posted where a U-turn is especially dangerous: near hill crests and curves with short sight lines, at signalized intersections with dedicated turn phases, and on divided roads at openings meant only for crossing.
Even where no sign is posted, most states prohibit U-turns wherever you cannot see far enough in both directions or where signs, medians, or local rules forbid them. The sign removes the judgment call: at this location, the maneuver is banned outright.
Do not reverse direction at the marked location. Continue to a place where the turn is legal and sighted, such as the next intersection that permits it, or go around the block. If you missed your street, that is always the safer recovery than a prohibited U-turn.
It is paired with No Left Turn, which uses a straight left arrow rather than the U shape; note that at many intersections a No Left Turn sign does not by itself ban a U-turn, and a No U-Turn sign does not ban the left turn. The arrow under the slash is exact: only the movement drawn is prohibited.
This sign appears in 13 questions across 13 of our state banks, on Driver License practice tests. Start with your state:
What does the red circle and slash on the pictured U-turn sign communicate?
Why: The cited Arkansas manual states that regulatory signs commonly use black, white, and red, and a red circle with a slash indicates that the pictured maneuver is prohibited.
Every practice test explains its answers this way. Pick your state and take one free; no sign-up.
Choose your stateYou may not turn around to travel in the opposite direction at that location. The U-shaped arrow under the red slash shows the exact movement banned.
Near curves and hill crests where drivers cannot see you in time, on divided highways except at signed openings, and wherever local rules forbid them. State manuals phrase the distances differently, which is why our state banks use each state's own wording.
Not by itself in most states. The two are separate movements with separate signs, and an intersection that bans both posts both. A question that swaps the two arrows is testing exactly this.
Turn phases and sensor timing assume predictable movements, and a U-turn crosses more conflict points than any other maneuver: oncoming through traffic, right-turn-on-red drivers, and pedestrians on two crosswalks.
As symbol identification and as judgment scenarios, such as choosing the legal way to reverse direction after missing a street. The tested answer is always the lawful alternative, never the quick illegal turn.