Road sign R-402: Mandatory direction at a roundabout

What it means

«Las flechas señalan la dirección y sentido del movimiento giratorio que los vehículos deben seguir.» RD 465/2025, Annex I of the RGC (BOE-A-2025-12199), Spanish original.

The sign is mandatory: the arrows show the direction and way of the circulating movement that vehicles must follow. There is no option to go against the arrows, even if nobody is coming.

Where you meet it

You see it at the roundabout, where the circulating direction is compulsory.

What you must do

Circulate on the ring in the direction of the arrows.

Details that count

Vehicles already on the ring have priority over those joining, whichever lane they are in (RGC art. 57.1.c). When leaving, signal: the general duty to indicate changes of direction also applies on leaving a roundabout, even with a single lane. And the left indicator does not mean «I am staying on the roundabout». Three different signs come into play at a roundabout: P-4 warns of it before you arrive, the give way sign obliges you to give way on entry, and R-402 marks the direction of rotation. Giving way is not just spotting a gap: article 58 requires you not to start or continue the manoeuvre until you have checked that nobody on the ring has to react abruptly, showing your intention by gradually reducing speed (RGC art. 58.1).

What it is confused with

It is confused with R-400a and R-400c, the mandatory-direction arrows. The mandatory-direction arrow marks a specific turn at that point; R-402 marks the direction of rotation you must follow within a roundabout, a continuous movement while you are in it. And it is not P-4, which only warns of the roundabout.

Related signs

• R-400a: Mandatory direction (arrow to the right)
• R-400c: Mandatory direction (arrow straight ahead)
• P-4: Roundabout
• R-1: Give way

Studied in topic 27: Priority and roundabouts.

Source: RGC arts. 57.1.c, 58.1; RGC Annex I, sign R-402 (RD 465/2025).