Length limit sign: what it means
The length limit sign means no vehicle, or vehicle with a trailer, longer than the length shown may go past it.
What does the length limit sign mean?
Know your traffic signs describes it as “no vehicles or combinations of vehicles over maximum length shown”. A combination is, for example, a car towing a caravan, so the trailer counts in the length.
Quick quiz
What does the sign at the top of this page mean?
- No vehicles wider than shown.
- No vehicles taller than shown.
- No vehicles longer than shown.
Show answer
C. No vehicles longer than shown. The lorry with a length and side arrows means no vehicles over the length shown (Know your traffic signs). Source: Know your traffic signs: regulatory signs, GOV.UK; The Highway Code, rule 109, GOV.UK; Traffic sign images, Department for Transport, GOV.UK
Where will you see it?
On narrow roads, tight bends and junctions where long vehicles cannot get round.
What should you do?
Know the length of your vehicle and any trailer. If you are longer than the limit, find another route.
What do people get wrong?
Forgetting the trailer. The limit is for the whole combination, not just the towing vehicle.
Common questions
Does a caravan count?
Yes. The sign covers combinations of vehicles, so a car towing a caravan is measured together.
What do the arrows mean?
They show the measurement is a length, from front to back. Width and height limits have their own signs.
Compare with
Want to test someone else? Play a road-sign quiz with friends and family.
Sources
Checked on 4 November 2026 against Know your traffic signs (regulatory signs) and The Highway Code rule 109.
- Know your traffic signs: regulatory signs, GOV.UK
- The Highway Code, rule 109, GOV.UK
- Traffic sign images, Department for Transport, GOV.UK
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Traffic sign images are Crown copyright, from the Department for Transport. Sources and image credits.