Road Signs in Turks and Caicos: The 49 Official Signs and What They Mean

Road Signs in Turks and Caicos: The 49 Official Signs and What They Mean

Turks and Caicos does not simply borrow the UK Highway Code or the US sign manual. Regulation 31 of the Road Traffic Regulations (Cap. 13.01) prescribes the islands' own schedule of 49 traffic signs in four groups: mandatory (1 to 29), warning (30 to 37), informatory (38 to 46) and temporary (47 to 49). Most are UK-shaped, but several are plain worded plates, including the rectangular SPEED LIMIT sign. This guide explains each group in plain words, then covers traffic signals, yellow kerb lines, pedestrian crossings and the $20 DMV sign test. You can study every sign with its meaning in the Turks and Caicos road signs library.

Key takeaways

• Turks and Caicos prescribes its own 49 signs in regulation 31: A mandatory (1 to 29), B warning (30 to 37), C informatory (38 to 46), D temporary (47 to 49). It has not adopted the UK Highway Code or the US MUTCD.
• The shape logic is mostly UK: a red ring prohibits, a blue disc instructs, a red-bordered triangle warns. Worded plates such as HALT AT MAJOR ROAD AHEAD, SPEED LIMIT and SLOW SCHOOL ZONE are the exceptions.
• Speeds are in mph. The prescribed speed sign is a white SPEED LIMIT rectangle, though red-ring speed discs are also reported on the road.
• Newer government signs are UK-style while many older signs are US-style, according to the local guide visittci.
• Traffic signals were only defined in law on 1 December 2023; the islands rely on roundabouts, where priority goes to traffic from the right.
• The written road signs test costs $20. The DMV does not publish its question count or pass mark.

Does Turks and Caicos use UK or US road signs?

Legally, neither. Section 19 of the Road Traffic Ordinance lets the Director prescribe the size, colour and type of every sign, and regulation 31 lists the prescribed signs one by one. That schedule never mentions the UK Highway Code or the US Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. Most signs follow UK and Vienna Convention shapes, but the SPEED LIMIT sign is a worded white rectangle like a US plate, and warnings such as BEND, CATTLE GRID and SLOW SCHOOL ZONE are text plates. There is no octagonal STOP sign in the schedule.

The road itself is more mixed. The local guide visittci reports that newer government-installed signs conform to the UK Highway Code, while many older signs, and some in new developments, are US Federal Highway Administration style. Expect both. Speed limits are always posted in mph.

What are the mandatory signs (1 to 29)?

Group A gives definite instructions. Failing to conform with a lawfully placed sign is an offence under section 42 of the Ordinance, with a $300 ticket.

Stopping and giving way at junctions

• HALT (sign 1): a T-shaped white plate reading HALT AT MAJOR ROAD AHEAD. Halt before entering the major road.
• STOP AND GIVE WAY (sign 2): a white circle with a red surround and an inverted triangle carrying the word STOP. Stop completely, then give way to traffic on the road you are joining. This, not an octagon, is the prescribed stop sign.
• GIVE WAY (sign 12): a red-bordered triangle, apex down, reading GIVE WAY. Let traffic on the major road pass before you pull out. GIVE WAY 50 YDS (sign 13) adds a white plate warning that the give way line is 50 yards ahead.
• MAJOR JUNCTION TO THE LEFT / RIGHT (signs 18 and 19): a white triangle with a black vertical line and a bar jutting to one side.

Speed, direction and entry

• SPEED LIMIT (sign 3): an off-white rectangle with a black surround, the words SPEED LIMIT and the limit beneath. The commonly posted limits are 20 mph in towns and settlements and 40 mph on highways such as Leeward Highway. A local rental guide also describes round red-bordered signs with a number inside, so expect UK-style speed discs too. See our Turks and Caicos road rules and speed limits guide.
• REDUCE SPEED NOW (sign 17): a red rectangle with those words in white.
• NO ENTRY FOR VEHICULAR TRAFFIC (sign 4): a red circle with a white bar across the middle. Do not drive in.
• ONE WAY STREET (sign 7) and ONE WAY (sign 8): white rectangles with an arrow showing the permitted direction; sign 7 adds the words ONE WAY STREET.
• KEEP LEFT (sign 9): a blue disc with a white arrow pointing down-left. LEFT / RIGHT TURN ONLY (signs 20 and 21) are blue discs with a white arrow: you must turn that way.

Prohibitions and priority

• NO WAITING (sign 5): a yellow disc with a red surround and the words NO WAITING.
• NO PARKING (sign 6): a blue disc with a red surround and a diagonal red line.
• NO RIGHT / LEFT TURN (signs 14 and 15): a red ring with a red slash over a black turn symbol.
• NO OVERTAKING (sign 16): two cars in a red ring, the right-hand one slashed in red. Regulation 25 already bans overtaking at corners, junctions, bridges and the brow of a hill.
• NO U TURNS (sign 22) and U TURN (sign 23): a black upside-down U in a red ring. A red stroke across the U means no U-turns; without it, U-turns are permitted.
• PRIORITY TO / OVER VEHICLES FROM THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION (signs 10 and 11): sign 10, a red ring with a small red arrow up and a larger black arrow down, means give way to oncoming traffic; sign 11, a blue rectangle with a white arrow up and a red arrow down, means you have priority.

Roundabouts, bends and narrowing roads

• ROUNDABOUT (sign 24): a red-bordered triangle with a black circle and three arrow points. Regulation 24 requires you to give priority to traffic from the right unless signals or markings say otherwise.
• MINI ROUND ABOUT (sign 25): a blue disc with three white arrows chasing each other. Same rule: give way to the right.
• BEND TO THE RIGHT / LEFT (signs 26 and 27): a red-bordered triangle with a black line bent in the direction of the bend.
• ROAD NARROWS ON RIGHT / LEFT (signs 28 and 29): a red-bordered triangle with two black lines, one narrowing at the top.

What are the warning signs (30 to 37)?

Group B tells you to exercise caution. Four of these eight signs are worded plates, so do not assume every warning is a triangle.

• HOSPITAL UP AHEAD (sign 30): a red vertical rectangle with a white H and arrow.
• BEND (sign 31): an off-white vertical rectangle with the word BEND and a curved symbol.
• CATTLE GRID (sign 32): a white rectangle with those words. Slow down before the grid.
• CHILDREN CROSSING AHEAD (sign 33): a red rectangle with the words in white.
• CHILDREN (sign 34): a red-bordered triangle with black figures of a boy and girl hand in hand.
• SLOW SCHOOL ZONE (sign 35): a yellow rectangle with the words in black.
• LOW FLYING AIRCRAFT OR SUDDEN AIRCRAFT NOISE (sign 36): a red-bordered triangle with a black jet aircraft.
• AIRPORT UP AHEAD (sign 37): a blue vertical rectangle with a black jet and a white arrow.

What are the informatory signs (38 to 46)?

Group C gives information rather than orders. Most are blue plates with white lettering.

• PARKING PLACE (sign 38): a blue square with a large white P.
• NO THROUGH ROAD (sign 39): a blue square with a T-shaped symbol, white vertical bar and red horizontal bar. Dead end ahead.
• UNSUITABLE FOR MOTORS (sign 40): a blue rectangle with the words in white.
• BUS STOP (sign 41): a white rectangle with the words BUS STOP and a bus symbol.
• ON APPROACHES TO JUNCTION (sign 42): a green rectangle carrying direction information, seen before major junctions and roundabouts.
• NO EXIT (43), NO ENTRY (44), IN (45) and OUT (46): blue plates with white words, used at the entrances and exits of premises such as car parks. The blue NO ENTRY plate is different from the red-and-white NO ENTRY circle in group A.

What are the temporary signs (47 to 49)?

Group D covers signs put up for a limited time. STOP POLICE (sign 47) is a white disc with a red surround, a black horizontal bar across the centre and the words STOP POLICE: come to a complete stop at the checkpoint and follow the officer's directions, since failing to conform with a police officer's signal is a $300 ticket offence. Road works (sign 48) is the familiar red-bordered triangle showing a person digging. TEMPORARY ROAD SURFACE (sign 49) is a red vertical plate with a white surround and white words, warning that the road ahead has a temporary surface. Stop when a STOP POLICE sign is shown, and slow down for road works and temporary surfaces.

Does Turks and Caicos have traffic lights?

The islands have historically managed junctions with roundabouts rather than traffic lights. In 2013 the then Premier said the country was not yet at the stage where lights were necessary because roundabouts and other signs were sufficient. That is why regulations 23 and 24 matter: at uncontrolled crossroads and at roundabouts you give priority to traffic from the right, and at a T-junction you give way to traffic on the through road.

The law caught up on 1 December 2023, when the Road Traffic (Amendment) Regulations 2023 inserted regulation 31A. It defines a traffic signal as three lamps, red, amber and green, stacked vertically with red at the top and green at the bottom; the amber may be flashing or non-flashing. The same amendment added traffic signals to the roundabout rule, so a signal overrides the give-way-to-the-right default. Failing to conform with a signal is a $300 ticket.

What do yellow kerb lines and pedestrian crossings mean?

Two rules in Part VI of the Road Traffic Ordinance behave like signs painted on the road, and Part VI is on the test syllabus.

• Yellow kerb line (section 20): where a yellow line is painted along the edge of the carriageway parallel to the kerb, you must not park between that line and the centre of the road.
• Pedestrian crossings (section 22): drivers must give way to pedestrians using a designated crossing, and no vehicle may be parked within 45 feet of the approach to one. Each breach is a $350 ticket.

How does the DMV test your knowledge of road signs?

The written road signs test is one of three DMV tests and costs $20; the written driving (rules) test is another $20 and the road test $30. The DMV does not publish the number of questions, the pass mark, the time limit or the format, so treat any site quoting exact figures with caution. Regulation 5(1) of the Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Regulations does say the examiner must be satisfied you can read English well enough to read traffic signs and that you are reasonably conversant with the prescribed signs. The 49 signs in regulation 31 are the syllabus.

No official Highway Code or handbook is published online; learners report receiving a paper study booklet with their learner's permit. Browse the Turks and Caicos signs library until you can name each sign's group and meaning on sight, then work through the free Turks and Caicos practice test, which mixes sign questions with the rules of the road. For the full sequence of tests, read our Turks and Caicos driving test guide and the step-by-step guide to getting a driver's licence in Turks and Caicos. ExamReady is an independent study resource and is not affiliated with the DMV or the Turks and Caicos Islands Government.

Official sources

• Road Traffic Ordinance, Cap. 13.01, with the Road Traffic Regulations (regulation 31 sign schedule, sections 20, 22 and 42)
• Road Traffic (Amendment) Regulations 2023 (regulation 31A, traffic signals)
• Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) Ordinance, Cap. 13.02 (regulation 5(1) test syllabus)
• DMV fees (sign test $20)
• GOV.UK travel advice for the Turks and Caicos Islands

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Turks and Caicos use UK or US road signs?

Neither system is adopted wholesale. Regulation 31 prescribes the islands' own 49 signs. Most follow UK shapes, but the SPEED LIMIT sign and several warnings are worded plates. On the road, newer government signs are UK-style while many older ones are US-style.

What does the stop sign look like in Turks and Caicos?

The prescribed sign is STOP AND GIVE WAY: a white circle with a red surround and an inverted triangle carrying the word STOP. A T-shaped HALT AT MAJOR ROAD AHEAD plate is also prescribed. No octagonal stop sign appears in the schedule.

Are speed limits in Turks and Caicos in mph or km/h?

Miles per hour. The prescribed sign is a white SPEED LIMIT rectangle, and red-ring speed discs are also reported. The commonly posted limits are 20 mph in towns and settlements and 40 mph on highways.

Does Turks and Caicos have traffic lights?

The islands have historically used roundabouts instead, with priority to traffic from the right. Traffic signals were defined in law on 1 December 2023 by regulation 31A: red, amber and green lamps stacked vertically, and the amber may flash.

How many questions are on the Turks and Caicos sign test?

The DMV does not publish the question count, pass mark, time limit or format of the $20 written road signs test. The legal syllabus is regulation 5(1): read signs in English and be reasonably conversant with the prescribed signs, so learn all 49 in regulation 31.