Road sign R-502: End of the no-overtaking ban

What it means

«Señala el lugar desde donde deja de ser aplicable una señal anterior de adelantamiento prohibido.» RD 465/2025, Annex I of the RGC (BOE-A-2025-12199), Spanish original.

It ends the stretch where overtaking was banned: past the sign, the general overtaking rules apply again.

Where you meet it

You see it at the end of the stretch where R-305 banned overtaking. With no end sign, the ban lasts until an end-of-overtaking-ban sign or an end-of-prohibitions sign. After a stretch with R-305 you see it at the point where the ban ends.

What you must do

On passing it, you may overtake again in compliance with the general rules; it does not mean overtaking is always possible, only that the specific prohibition has ended. What it lifts is that particular ban (RGC art. 145.2.f). It does not oblige you to overtake: it only means overtaking is no longer banned, and the general rules still apply.

Details that count

R-502 is one of the end-of-prohibition-or-restriction signs (RGC art. 145.2.f). Without it, the R-305 ban lasts until an end-of-overtaking sign or an end-of-prohibitions sign. Each end answers another sign: R-501 the maximum-speed one and R-506 the minimum-speed one.

What it is confused with

It is confused with R-500, «End of prohibitions», and with R-503. R-502 lifts the general overtaking ban; R-503 is the exact counterpart of the one for lorries over 3,500 kg and lifts only that; R-500 has a wider scope and lifts all specific prohibitions for moving vehicles at once. What R-502 lifts is only the general overtaking ban: it does not lift the lorry one (R-306), which ends with R-503, nor a speed limit, which has its own end sign (R-501).

Related signs

• R-305: No overtaking
• R-503: End of the no-overtaking ban for lorries
• R-500: End of prohibitions

Studied in topic 23: Overtaking.

Source: RGC art. 145.2.f; RGC Annex I, sign R-502 (RD 465/2025).