Mandatory signs

Round blue signs with a white symbol. They forbid nothing — they instruct. The symbol shows what you must do, not what you may not.

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Where the group sits in the regulations

The group holds 14 signs and is governed by chapter 5 of the Norwegian sign regulations: the general provisions in § 9, and the individual signs in § 10.

Blue and round: a duty, not a ban

Mandatory signs are round with a blue ground and a white symbol. The colour is the whole difference from prohibitory signs, which are round with a red ring, and the two groups get confused precisely because the shape is the same.

A mandatory sign is a positive duty: drive this way, use this lane, follow this road. It is stricter than it looks, because there is no "or" — where the sign stands, the alternative is not permitted.

Instructions and bans that come to the same thing

An instruction to drive one way is simultaneously a ban on every other way. That is why two signs that look nothing alike can have exactly the same practical effect at a junction — and why it is easier to answer correctly if you read the sign as "what must I do now" rather than "what is this sign called".

This group also holds the signs that reserve an area for one kind of road user. There the instruction is not a direction but a use: this is where this group belongs, and the others do not.

Six signs from the group, explained

Mandatory direction of travel 402
Indicates that you must drive in the direction shown by the arrow. No other direction of travel is permitted.
Mandatory direction of travel, right 402.1
Indicates that drivers must leave the intersection in the direction shown by the arrow. You must turn right; other directions are not permitted.
Mandatory direction of travel, left 402.2
Indicates that drivers must leave the intersection in the direction shown by the arrow. You must turn left; other directions are not permitted.
Mandatory direction of travel, straight ahead 402.3
Indicates that drivers must leave the intersection in the direction shown by the arrow. You must drive straight ahead; turning is not permitted.
Mandatory direction of travel, turn right 402.4
Indicates that drivers must leave the intersection in the direction shown by the arrow. You must turn right.
Mandatory roundabout 406
Indicates a roundabout, and that drivers must enter and travel through it in the direction of the arrows (counter-clockwise). Traffic already in the roundabout usually has right of way.

All 14 mandatory signs

Below are all 14 signs in the group as they actually look. Tap a sign for its name, its meaning and what the test tends to ask about it.

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Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a mandatory and a prohibitory sign?

Both are round. A blue ground with a white symbol is mandatory — you must do what the symbol shows. A red ring is prohibitory — you may not do what the symbol shows.

Can I take a different direction from the one the sign shows?

No. A mandatory sign has no alternative: where it stands, that direction is the only permitted one.