Road sign with crossed out letter "E" it is not common in Europe, but there are some, and if you see them, it is good to know what they prohibit. Surprisingly, the prohibition sign with the crossed out letter "E" has different meanings in different countries.
It also applies to different vehicle categories. Therefore, it is worth distinguishing the prohibitions of this sign, depending on where you drive. In Europe, such a sign is usually placed in front of a tunnel. And in South America - in front of parking lots. For example, in Chile, Mexico, Peru and some other countries, this means no parking. You won't find these signs in front of parking lots in Europe.
In some places, this sign is placed in a rectangular vertical sign of white color with the corresponding inscriptions above or below: No parking. By the way, such signs are quite common in Ukraine. However, the inscriptions are different, sometimes even with specially written numbers.
In Europe, the crossed out "E" shows the category of the tunnel according to the ADR (European Agreement for the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods) classification. This sign applies mainly to truck drivers. It is intended to warn that the passage of vehicles with dangerous goods through the tunnel is prohibited.
This also applies to vehicles carrying loads over 8 tons, including dangerous ones. The ban is aimed at increasing the safety of other road users. It is about preventing explosions and fires in the limited space of the tunnels.
There are over 50 tunnels in Europe marked with the appropriate signs. The most of them are in Switzerland - 12. This is not surprising, because there are many tunnels there. In addition to the letter E, there are crossed out letters B, C and D, thus indicating the classification of tunnels depending on the degree of danger of the load.