American Reacts to The Ultimate Guide to UK Road Signs
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- Опубликовано: 27 авг 2024
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Reacting To My Roots
P.O. Box 439
Jasper, Indiana 47547
USA
In this video I react to UK road signs for the first time. I'm shocked at how many unique traffic signs the UK seems to have. This video alone had 100 UK road signs and their meaning! While some of these signs were similar to ones I'm used to seeing, most of them were completely new to me. The fact that someone needs to memorize and practice so many UK road signs and road rules in general, just goes to show how difficult the theory test probably is.
Thanks for watching. If you enjoyed this reaction please give this video a thumbs up, share your thoughts in the comments and click the subscribe button to follow my journey to learn about my British and Irish ancestry.
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NOT just the UK, these are the 'internationally recognised' signs (except for America and couple of others). It means that 'words' are not needed in most cases and even people who speak other languages or can't even read, have mostly, no problem understanding their meaning. 😀
There is a UN convention on road signs. So many look similar outside the US.
Vienna Convention on Road Traffic
Not all of these are the same though, I saw quite a few signs in this video that I've never seen before and I live in Europe as well, for example you guys seem to have a lot more signs with white background than we do here, all of our warning signs for example have yellow backgrounds not white
@@AHVENANDo you live in Scandinavia? I think the yellow background is so that the signs show up against the snow.
@@Escapee5931 well if we're gonna be picky, I don't technically live in Scandinavia, but northern Europe, more specifically Finland
Triangles warn, rectangles inform, circles give orders. It’s that simple.
And colour differentiates between Motorway and other roads
And other shapes as well as upside triangles are intended to be recognized by their shape alone, also from the reverse side.
Octagon STOP!
They did not show the lines on the Rd. I'll not go through them all but if you see a solid white line that means no overtaking . You would have to get someone to send you a highway code book.
@@anthonyyarwoodI was taught the more paint on the road its nore dangrous
'Loose chipping' is a temporary warning sign placed by workers that have laid a tarmac surface sprayed/topped with stone chippings. These chippings can be loose and thrown up if vehicles travel too fast
The "Sign Not In Use" sign frequently comes in for a lot of ridicule, but there is a sensible reason for it. It's usually attached to the electronic information signs, and it tells drivers that the sign is not working. The most common usage is during the construction and commissioning phase when the sign has been installed, but the system is not yet operational.
This is for two reasons:
1. It stops drivers from inferring that "there are no problems ahead" and potentially rushing into a dangerous situation - for example, if a previous sign had posted a warning of queues ahead, but the next was blank, they might infer that the queues had dissipated. However, the "Sign Not In Use" sign tells the driver "the sign is blank because it doesn't work", not "the sign is blank because the hazard is gone".
2. It stops people from calling up the Highways Agency (or other authority) and complaining that the sign is blank when there is a hazard. Yes, people do that. Again, there is often a lot of ridicule levelled at the electronic warning signs on motorways stating "Fog", when it's obviously foggy. Part of the reason they enable the "Fog" sign is that if they don't, people call them up and tell them it's foggy, and ask why the "Fog" signs are not turned on.
Yes, that's right.
The inportant point Steve may not have grasped is that "Sign not in use" is not self-referencing: it is referring to another, adjacent sign!
In europe we just put a trash bag over the sign.
@@MrBulky992 well now I've learnt something, I'd always wondered why they were there and the only logical reason I could come up with was that when they removed the sign, but not the sign post they had to put sign not in use so people don't do something stupid thinking the sign has fallen off. I've never seen one bar possibly when there's road works to indicated road signs that are there are not in use and, they're always covered or painted over anyway so it seems pretty pointless to me.
Potentially you've got the situation that the post is installed, but the permanent sign isn't placed yet (because it's a different crew. or it's in preparation for a known future situation (heavy machinery will be in use soon, there's an attraction opening soon which will use the post for directions, there's a new junction being added a mile down the road, but it's not open yet)).
@@madbruvThey do that here as well, but some signs are massive! And the bin bags often blow off.
Quayside (pronounced Key side) is where ships tie up allowing vehicle access to load and unload - so the sign is reminding the driver to take care near the edge as no fences are present.
Yes, reference to a "drop in the ocean" as we called them, where you could drive straight off into the water because there's nothing there to stop you. Mostly only seen in ports.
When my wife on our first date got lost on the way to our hotel and told them we were opposite the Kerway-side Inn not Key-side Inn I knew she was the one❤😂
@peterjenkins8522 -A better way of describing it than I managed.
also a word used internationally including america... though probably not one youd encounter unless coastal
This sign is often displayed at slipways onto ferry berths too
It did make me laugh when you were confused about the double bend sign. Playing perfectly into the stereotype that all American cars can only drive in straight lines because you don't have many bends on your roads.
haha. We definitely have curves in our roads, the signs just look quite a bit different
That's an old one. I actually thought it came about because big old American cars were not very good at cornering.
It says the road bends to the left and then to the right
Don't Americans have things that "drive them round the bend"? Is that only a British saying?
@@brianharrison5500 And then there's the SERIES of bends sign. Similar ,but the z is on the huh abit.
The bend sign is a lifesaver on our little country roads. They can be severe and acute, often with a ditch or tree just beyond it. Our roads probably have more hazards than yours, remembering the road system was first started by the Romans 2000 years ago. We're still riding on those roads, as they were straight and well built. I've seen hazard signs with all kinds of animals in, including ducks. It makes you slow down. Our speed limits are set when driving through a village or built up area with street light, thirty miles an hour is the maximum speed even when there are no signs. A single road with one lane of traffic going in each direction is sixty by default and a dual carriageway is seventy. A hidden dip is a dip in the road that cant be seen on approach, so you might be tempted to overtake the car in front, not being able to see a car already in the dip coming toward you that will suddenly appear on the road causing an accident. It can also cause you to suddenly think you are going off a cliff, so don't panic and be prepared. Most of our signs are warning of hazards that can and have caused accidents. Ice warnings are for certain areas of land that are prone to freezing. Frost pockets.
The 'Romans' did not create the first roads in Britain. The pre-celts did. Roads like the Ridgeway are thousands of years old. It is fairly straight too. Roman roads were also straight. The bendy nature comes from two main sources, the following of field boundaries and avoidance of natural features.
My favourite warning sign in Loch Lomond national park is a warning sign for red squirrels
I was speaking to an American friend about the "twistys", Roads that are fun to drive, that twist and turn all over the place - My friend has to drive to some sort of mountain road for that - I have to drive 5-10minutes in any direction to find a country lane. We have some incredible driving roads in England. (We also have some awful ones...)
@@I_Don_t_want_a_handle The romans built the roads - In a sense that it wasn't just dirt tracks that have been used and formed over time - They actually built foundations and footings (out of more than dirt and sticks, Stone, clay along with.... dirt and sticks were used) in certain areas so the road wouldn't collapse under heavy use or with rainfall. In that sense - They "built" them.
Thanks for this. I regularly drive up to Northern Ireland from Dublin and when I cross the border there are no speed limit signs. I just assumed the limit was 70mph, so I usually drive at around 65mph till I see a speed sign coming into Newry.
The UK actually started off a design study for motorway signs when we were building our first ones out in the 1950s and 1960s because the government of the time realised that for the first time people were going to be driving at sustained high speeds for long periods so needed clear, easy-to-read signs which had the maximum useful information on them but which weren't crowded, so that people could process them in the few seconds they had whilst they were in view.
To this end, the commission set up to create the new signage had a custom font designed which is called "Transport" and which forms the basis for a number of country's road signage now.
This work was carried out in about 20 different countries simultaneously. Then in the late 50 there was a conference to unify the road signs across Europa (worth saying is that warsawapact countries was also in the conferanse). They hardly agreed on anything.
Then there was a bunch more conferences after that in the 60 and early 70s and more and more signs was unified. Then it was entered in the Ten-T standard. Currently somewhere between 80-90 of UK road signs are unified with Ten-T standard. Its worth saying for some signs there is large flexibility in the standrad.
Remember Steve. We learn these signs from birth. Because even while walking, we need to know a lot of these signs. I knew most signs before I could even drive.
Yeah, I'm sure that does help!
I get your point, but in practice most people aren't that interested. Many drivers on the road don't know what half the signs mean.
I'm one of them lol.@@severnsea
I don’t drive but always studied my dad’s uk atlas which explained different road sign meanings. I always thought it was weird a plain red circle sign meant “no vehicles”.
@@severnsea Interest has nothing to do with it, I learned most relevant signs in primary school. We had traffic classes.
Nothing is more British than a sign directing you to a ‘secret’ nuclear bunker 😂
I think it might be just ever so slightly more British if the sign also showed a cup and saucer, indicating where you can get your cup of tea and slice of cake, at the Secret Nuclear Bunker cafe. We British are just so.....British! Can't help ourselves! 🇬🇧 😉
@@linesync I’d love to see what nuclear related items they are selling in the obligatory gift shop as you exit!
I know people who go to a specific attraction just for the cafe, completely ignoring the attraction itself!
Mate, the first time I drove past that sign I almost crashed my car I was laughing that hard.
@@Bungle-UK Yep, I can totally believe it! That's (some of) the British people for you. We are just too cool/weird/unique to be any other nationality. "Ooh, so this is the very spot where all time and space began. That's nice dear. Do they have PG Tips? " 😉.
As for souvenirs from the Secret Nuclear Bunker café Gift Shop.... well, there's got to be Glow-in-the-dark lily of the valley soap, Glow-in-the-dark honey, Glow-in-the-dark bookmarks (!) and of course Glow-in-the-dark tea bags, as well as postcards of the Secret Nuclear Bunker seen from above (i.e. photos of plain green fields) and of course fridge magnets in the shape of Geiger counters. ☢️
I think maybe ' SIGN NOT IN USE' may be more British. 🤔
The "National speed limit" sign is historic. It used to mean "Unrestricted highway", quite literally that there is no speed restriction. This is still actually the case on the Isle of Man. During the Suez oil crisis, temporary speed restrictions were brought in nationally to help save fuel (60mph on single lane roads with either one lane or two opposing, unseperated lanes. 70mph on dual carriageways where opposing lanes are seperated and motorways). The temporary speed restrictions were never removed. One advantage is that they could in future change the national speed limit without having to change all the road signs. Governments often talk about increasing the motorway speed limit just before elections because it would be a popular move, then never follow it through.
Suez oil crisis was 1956. 70mph national limit was brought in in in 1967 in those days it applied to all roads that weren't signed as a lower limit
The 60/70 limit was in use before the 1973 oil crisis - nothing to do with the Suez crisis. Then it was reduced to 50/50. After the crisis it returned to 60/70. That's why the sign is used - so the government can change the speed without re-signing the whole country.
The national speed limit varies by road type, but also vehicle type. Typically 50, 60 or 70 if dual carriage way. Ca4s can unless towing go up to the fastest speed for a given road, vans unless based on a car chassis are typically limited to 60 and lorries 50 in a lot of cases, though some can do 60, most companies restrict them to 50 or 56.
When we were 10 kids in the UK used to take the Cycling Proficiency Test at school so we were taught to ride our bikes safely and that included the highway code .
Sensible. Sadly I don't think this is done now? Correct me if I'm wrong.
@@xxSydneyFox It is in all the schools I teach in. It's called Bikeability now.
yes you are right just checked the government web sight, i didn`t know till your reply thanks@@Athelas93
In some places, when I was a kid you just rode however and tried to pay attention to cars travelling on your side or ride on the pavement. I’ve seen it more now as an adult, a school by me does it on my road
The signs make a lot more sense in the context they are found.
Hump bridges are usually old stone bridges, built before cars existed, with a high crown in the middle. This means you can't see a car coming from the other direction, and as they're often one lane wide, that's good to know!
And if you go fast enough you can leave the ground! There used to be a really good one on my route into Leeds.
Ah yeah! Definitely good to know haha
The national speed limit sign doesn't have a number because it varies based on vehicle type (and also on road type), so it's not the same for everyone. For example, on a dual carriageway, the national speed limit for a car is 70mph, or 60mph if towing or if a bus, coach or lorry. You'll often see these signs when changing from a more restricted stretch of road.
Also national speed limits change for cars to 60mph on single roads, duel carriageways cars national speed limit is 70mph
We used to have that sign in Ireland but they were all replaced with standard speed limit signs when we switched to km/h.
@Ollybus unless you are in Wales, Where the 30 with streetlights is now 20 unless otherwise indicated..
Your correct in your comment but you forgot one important thing … you may do the National speed limit ( 70mph ) in accordance of your specific vehicle or the specific road ..( where it’s safe to do so )
@@Ollybus The 30/20 limit in street lit areas is not National Speed Limit, it's just automatically applied without the local Highway Authority needing to enact a Traffic Regulation Order, you return to NSL when you leave those areas.
That roadworks sign just had me in stitches laughing, when I was about 5yrs old my brother told me it meant "to watch out for people with umbrellas & tell my parents when I see one."
Needless to say my parents thought I had gone nutty.
😂😂😂
There used to be an advert where the man in the sign opened the umbrella during the narrative.
I like to comment that when the local Council gets the road budget for the year and all the roadworks start that we're getting buried under a storm of men wrestling with their umbrellas.
The double bend sign is warning you of an s-bend ahead eg sharp left immediately followed by a sharp right. Many of our roads are very twisty and narrow yet have a 60mph speed limit (which is national speed limit for single carriageways) - these warnings really help so you don't plant your car in a hedge (or worse)...
In the UK, the word highway doesn't refer to a specific kind of road. In fact, the word is not commonly used at all. When the word is used, it refers to roads in general. For example, the "highway code" is the set of rules that apply on all roads, not just some kinds of roads.
....and the words "Highway Maintenance" on road repair vehicles.
A much rarer used word these days is "byeways"
@@Rachel_M_ ...yes, that is very true, sadly. The Highways continue while the Byways slowly fade into history. A very good and perhaps slightly melancholy observation. It must be Autumn.
@@linesync i remember back in the day when we usually heard "highways and byways" together.
@@linesync There are lots of signposts for 'Byway' in Wiltshire. Technically BOATs (byways open to all traffic) they are also known as 'green lanes'.
a Ring Road is a main road that will circle a town/city, to stop congestion from everyone using the same routes.
It's a necessity for old world cities which grow out from junctions in a rough circle , rather than new world, which are planned and laid out in grids.
The "emergency diversion route" signs are usually accompanied with an arrow, and are just shapes (either filled in or empty) so if there's a problem on a main road they can tell you to "follow the filled diamond" and the filled in diamond signs will take you around the diversion route back onto the road you wanted to be on.
The other shapes are used when 2 (or more) diversion routes cross or even join. if your diversion is the diamond another might be the circle etc.
I am glad you explained those to me. I have been driving for over 30 years and have never seen them nor had any idea what they meant!
I'm a bit puzzled. Those were super obvious to me, and we use something completely different in Germany (roadtype-coloured rectangles with "U1" to "U99" and an arrow inside them. "U" for Umleitung=diversion).
You put more effort into passing a UK driving test than most UK people actually do.
The blue speed ones, you misunderstood. It's the MINIMUM speed. You must stay ABOVE 30. The red 30 is maximum.
Oh okay! That's good to know
@@reactingtomyrootsThe blue minimum speed limit is used in tunnel entrances etc where driving slowly could seriously mess things up. Obviously, you can't do this speed if traffic is queued up ahead of you.
The 'no vehicles carrying explosives' one is also usually associated with tunnels.
In the UK, "contra flow" is a fairly common term. You would probably say "diversion into oncoming traffic".
The main use is when there are roadworks (eg on a 6 lane motorway). Often, for long term maintenance like major resurfacing, or road widening, the maintenance teams will squish all of the traffic from both sides of the road onto one side. Usually in the space that carries 3 lanes at 70mph, they squash that down to 4 lanes going at 50mph, with 2 lanes in each direction. That allows them to have full access to one side of the motorway. We call this "a contraflow" because there is oncoming traffic going against (contra) to the normal flow of that side of the road. Often a contra flow is only marked out using cones, and speed limit signs, so if you aren't paying attention it would be fairly easy to accidentally end up in oncoming traffic.
A quay is a place you moor boats. It is pronounced "key". A quayside is the road/path/ground that is beside a quay. A dock is a place where there are quays for boats. Most of the time in the UK, a quay is a part of the canal system. It isn't unheard of for drivers to end up with their car in a canal. Usually the result of a massive lapse in competence. The last news story I saw of such an event, a driver had reversed through a metal fence. Might have been a medical emergency or someone who tried to use the gas pedal as a brake and then froze up in panic. Of course, naturally after such an event, one must rebuild the fence, and then place a suitable warning sign to mark their shame.
Usually british signs will be at minimum the pictographic sign. Very rare to have a warning without the picture. The signs are designed so that you shouldn't have to be able to read to understand them. Shape, colour, picture. Note that we don't mark EVERY place where a sign could go, it is usually the places where drivers screw up on the same easy hazard over and over again.
Okay, that makes sense. I like the idea of the pictures!
Probably a Tesla. 😂
Good post, but there are places where there are a ridiculous amount of signs in one area, often at large junctions in cities. Unless you actually stop it's physically impossible to read them all. They should reduce them unless they're absolutely necessary, especially given that they're always complaining they're broke.
@@reactingtomyroots The pictures are mostly international, with some very slight national design differences, the shape of the person in the signs for example has been simplified from a silhouette of a person to a stick figure type of image. Or in one country the image of the car might look slightly different.
Also, homezones are areas where cars must drive the speed of walking, where the street is open for everyone at all times. So children playing in the middle of the street is allowed, people walking, etc. They're common in the Netherlands (where I'm told they were invented). The street is usually cobbled so cars can't drive very fast, there are sharp corners, chicanes, lots of dead ends (for cars only), obstacles, humps and other traffic calming measures to make sure cars cannot go fast.
This has been one of my fave vids, mainly for the reaction to the "double bend in the road" 😂
I live in Wales and roads here and the tight corners/bends are insane, and so are the people driving on them, i see that sign and think "prepare for idiots flying towards you"
I found it really funny that of all the signs you could get confused over, it was the one warming about bends in the road.
You should look up what English country roads are like, it will give you an appreciation of why that sign is very useful.
A lot of our roads are small, narrow, winding and rural. A whole new thing for a lot of USA visitors as I notice from various peoples videos.
Yeah it's hilarious seeing them say "whoa this road is SO NARROW" and yet to us it's just a regular A or B road 😂😂
As a biker I appreciate the forwarning of tight twisties, or dbl bends, tight ones, coming up. Like you say, it’s not so much committing them to memory, they are mostly self explanatory and make sense in context. You’d enjoy taking/watching one of the driving test vids that are mock tests, loads of multi test questions, see how many you’d get right now.
Yeah I can imagine. And that's a good idea! I'm sure I'll do that at some point
The National speed limit depends on the type of the road. In France for example, it is 50 kmph in a city, 70 kmph on a departemental road, 80 kmph on a national road and 130 kmph on a motorway.
Home zone is a residential street, so you have to slow down and be very careful (I don’t know in UK but in France we have « zones de partage », limited to 20 kmph, where pedestrians have absolute priority, then come cyclists, and then cars)
The National Speed limit is different for different classes of vehicle. For HGV's on single track roads it is 50mph, for small cargo, buses or towing vehicles (vans etc.) it is 50mph and for cars it is 60mph. Higher limits apply for each type of vehicle on dual carriageways, dual carriageways with a separating barrier and for motorways
It strikes me that US and Canadian road signs tend to favour using words rather than graphical devices. The UK tends to have (relatively) a large number of drivers visiting from Europe for whom English is not their first language. Hence the use of pictures to show the necessary information. Sometimes the picture or graphic is backed up by a word (like the "ICE" sign) but the pictures allow easy understanding of what lies ahead (once you've got used to them!). I think the red circles giving "orders", and red triangles giving warnings etc are internationally used - except in North America.
The UK follow the Vienna Convention on Road Signs and Signals, like the rest of Europe does and many other places, so the signs are the same in all these places irrespective of the local languages.
in the USA most signs are written, the rest of the world standardized on the same Symbols. so its not just UK road signs. if you know these signs you will be able to drive in China, India, Russia, all of Europe all of Africa. anywhere basically.
the "national speed limit" sign is actually a "end of previous speed limit" sign.
every type of road in European countries has a maximum speed.
for instance 120km/h on your interstate's
100 on national highways
80 on B roads
60 on smaller roads.
50 or lower within buildup areas.
the sign "end of previous speed limit" is used when you for instance are driving on the interstate and you see a sign that says 100km/h, a little while later you pass the "end of previous speed limit" sign, after which the speed limit is no longer 100KM/h, its now 120KM/h again which is the national speed limit for that type of road.
its basically a sign that says: go the maximum allowed speed for this type of road unless otherwise indicated.
We used to have those national speed limit signs in Ireland but they were all replaced with standard speed limit signs when we switched to km/h.
The "national speed limit" sign was introduced as "no speed limit", and that's not really an issue when most cars cannot make it to 50mph. It soon became apparent that as speed capabilities increased, there needed to be a limit placed. I believe the UK government found it easier/cheaper to enact a national speed limit per road type, and not replace the signs. Most new development roads have the speed limit explicitly stated and don't rely so much on the NSL sign.
@@neilharbott8394 Yet in fact when the speed limit was scrapped, between 1930 and 1936 I believe, road deaths actually went DOWN and by a significant amount too, so I'm not totally convinced about the "as speed capabilities increased, there needed to be a limit placed" part, especially back then when the pace of change for technology was very slow
Okay, the pictures do make more sense when coming from that perspective!
In Germany a sign very similar to the national speed limit sign also includes all other rules (mainly for overtaking). If only the speed limit ends the speed number is included.
I'm not british but I can explain some of the more confusing signs to you. That shows you how universal this signage is:
- Try your brakes: that sign is usually located before a steep descent and warns drivers to check if the vehicle's brakes are working properly in case they need to use them. Pretty self-explanatory, frankly.
- Crossroads, T-junction, traffic merging from the left: the wider, pointy line represents the main road, which means that road has priority over all the others.
- Double-bend: remember, it's a warning sign, so it's telling you that you should be careful and slow down because there are two sharp bends ahead, the first one being to the left.
- Two-way traffic straight ahead: that sign is used in situations where a one-way street or road continues into a two-way street or road, so the drivers are warned that there's oncoming traffic from that point on.
- Contra-flow bus lane: it means that there's a bus lane going in the opposite direction of traffic on a one-way street.
- No through road for vehicles: in other words, it's a dead-end.
Try Your Brakes also appears if your route takes you through a ford - country driving - or where the road has temporarily flooded - heavy rain, burst water main - but is still passable with care.
@@AndrewJLeslie - That's correct (and frankly kind of obvious) but over here no one puts up a sign telling drivers to do that, it's just taught in driving schools. We don't have fords and when a road is flooded they just close it down and don't let anyone drive through it.
The diversion route signs at 24:15 took me so long to figure out and I've been driving in the UK for 15 years now. If a main road is closed, they'll put up a sign to say "if you wanna get to the other side of this roadworks, go this other route". However, if there's more than one road closed, then the diversion routes might cross over each other.
So, they'll label one as ■ route and the other as △ route. Near your road closure, there'll be a sign like "to rejoin this motorway, follow the ■ diversion". You'll see some signs like [ ■ ↑ ] meaning the diversion on black square route continues straight ahead, or [ ← ■ △ ] meaning both the square and triangle diversion routes need to turn left to reach their destination.
Helps if you did orienteering as a kid and saw separate trails using those symbols marked out, though different colours is another way the trails are differentiated.
In terms of the road hierarchy, in the 1920s a system was developed of A-numbers for main roads and B-numbers for local/regional roads. _Usually_ a 1- or 2-digit A-road is a more important road and a 3-digit or 4-digit A-road is less important, but that doesn't always hold good as some roads have _become_ more or less important over time. Then in the 1960s we started to build motorways, which got M-numbers. And then to confuse things even more, we have "A-road with motorway regulations" with numbers like A1(M) - this traditionally was used where a short section of A-road was upgraded to motorway standard but it wasn't worth allocating a new number to it, so it was bodged. On direction signs, motorways (interstates) have blue signs; more important A-roads (national highways) have green signs; less important A-roads (state highways), B-roads (county roads) and unnumbered roads have white signs.
Yes, signs like "no cycling", "no motor vehicles" etc would be a lot more obvious if they had a diagonal line through them (like the "no u-turn" sign does, and like they do in many other European countries), that's probably the set of signs that most British people are likely to get wrong.
On some roads you will see electronic signs that can flash up warnings about traffic or road closures or direct people to car parks that have spaces, etc - a "Sign not in use" panel may be added if it is switched off for maintenance so that drivers don't assume that no message means no problems on the road ahead.
"Try your brakes" is often used after a ford, to remind drivers to make sure their brakes are OK after driving through the water.
"No stopping" means just that, you are not allowed to stop (unless the traffic in front is stationary, obvs!).
"No waiting" means that you can stop temporarily, eg to let a passenger get in or out, but you can't park for any length of time.
"Double bend" just means that the road bends to the left and then to the right shortly afterwards. (The bends probably won't be as sharp as depicted on the sign!)
Roads have to be clear for vehicles up to a height of 5m (16'6") and a width of 2.5m (8'3") unless there are signs to warn drivers otherwise.
"Soft verges" is warning you _not_ to pull off the side of the road if you want to stop, because your wheels might get stuck in muddy ground.
A quay (pronounced "key") is like a small harbour or dock, and the sign is used where there may not be any barriers to stop you from driving straight off the edge and into the water.
"Loose chippings" is put out as a temporary sign when a road has been freshly resurfaced with gravel chips, for a couple of weeks until the gravel has all bedded in or been swept away. It warns drivers not to go to fast because they may spray up gravel at other vehicles or road users, to be wary of stone chips from other traffic, and that there may be less grip than usual for cornering or stopping.
The national speed limit (NSL) applies to all unlit roads, unless a lower limit is signposted. For cars, it's 60mph on single-carriageways and 70mph on dual-carriageways and motorways - for vans, lorries, buses and towing vehicles, it's generally 10mph less but there are some cases where it may be different (eg vans on motorways are allowed to do 70). If there is street lighting then a speed limit of 30mph applies unless signs say otherwise. The Ø sign is used either to mark the end of a lower speed limit _or_ if NSL applies on a road with street lighting. If either of those defaults applies (30 with street lighting, NSL without) then you will see a sign at the start and that's all, if the speed limit is anything else then you will see regular repeater signs to remind you of the limit.
Yes, you got "with flow" exactly right. (Nobody calls it "with-flow", it's just a cycle lane or a bus lane).
The "emergency diversion route" symbols are, frankly, a work of bureaucratic genius. The authorities designate certain routes as "alternative routes" in the event of a motorway being closed (eg because of an accident). Direction signs along that route are marked with one of the symbols. Then on the exit from the motorway, there will be a folding sign that the police can open out to show something like "To rejoin motorway, follow 🔸" if they need to close the road, and then drivers can just look for the 🔸 symbol to follow to get back on the motorway at the next suitable junction. This saves the police from having to put a load of temporary signs, but the subtle symbol on the signs doesn't get in the way at other times. There are a selection of different symbols because there might be some roads that are used by multiple diversionary routes and so the different symbols allow drivers to see which one to follow, but the symbols themselves are arbitrary and don't have any meaning.
22:41 a ring road is (as the name suggests) a ring of roadway usually around the outer edge of a city, or inside a city that takes you in a giant circle. It allows access to major parts of it without having to drive through the centre. Keeps traffic moving better
Sometimes referred to as a bypass by the Americans I believe!!
I believe a US equivalent is "beltway".
Double bends are usually blind corners where your vision around the corner is restricted. It's more of a warning about not being able to see the road ahead so hazards are effectively hidden from you.
....and beware of tight, twisting possible hairpin bends, danger, use caution slow down to a few below units the accompanying posted speed limit sign's number. 😅
Got me thinking, in USA do they use the phrase "he/she's driving me round the bend!" ? 😅 as Steve said they don't tend to use the term 'bend'. (Probably cos they don't generally have the sharp double blind bends)
A double bend is a specific hazard. The driver may take the bend ahead in a certain manner, in believe the road will then straighten out. Having to suddenly change direction could cause the vehicle to 'Fishtail' throwing the vehicle off the road, or into oncoming traffic.
we tend to use the term 'curves'
@reactingtomyroots that sounds too sexy - say curves in the UK men will have totally different thing in mind 😜😅
Just remember, the thick black line depicts the road you are travelling on. Imagine it as a map from above when you see a bend or curve, that is the route you will drive through those bends. Or there are junctions ahead joining from the left or right as indicated on the sign. The pointed end of the black line is the direction you will exit the "hazard".
Also worth noting that in the UK (unlike some other countries) the two-way bend sign shows exactly what the road is about to do, not just a general indication that the road ahead is twisty
13:15 The arrow is the direction you're currently going. The thicker verticle bar shows the road you're on is the major road compared to the road it's crossing - this will normally mean it is your right of way while vehicle on the other road must give way.
National Speed limit varies depending on the road. Usually if that sign is used it means 60mph.
A Rign Road is a road that rings a place, usually a city centre or similar.
The 'crossroad' sign that confused you a little- the broad central line with the point on top shows that you are on the major road, heading forwards, but warns that there wil be traffic turning on/ off your road at the crossroads ahead.
The 'double bend' ahead sign is warning of a stretch of road ahead with some very tight turns that you will need to slow down conssiderably to negotiate - most usually found on winding country roads.
'Soft verges' means the dirt/ grass at the side of the road is prone to be particularly soft, so if you were to try to park up on it, your whells would sink in.
A hump-backed bridge is, like the picture shows, a bridge that is arched over the top- so the road goes up and over, rather than a flat or gently curving surface. These commoly go over railway lines, small rivers or canals. If you drive too fast over it, your stomach lurches.
'quayside' ( pronounced 'keyside') is where there is a harbour or mooring for boats. The warning is "There's an edge you might drive over into the river if you don't watch what you are doing!!" See the picture. There might well not be a fence or wall to mark the edge.
' Loose chippings' signs go up after a road has been resurfaced, so there are loose bits of gravel on the surface which might fly up and damage your(or someone elses) car, so you should driv dlower than normal.
The black and yellow 'emergency diversion route' signs are often permanantly attached to large information boards where diversions might often be required- for example if a stretch of motorway is closed due to an accident (or even planned roadworks) you will see a sign like "For Peterborough, follow [insert particular sign] " You can then take the alternative route, following the yellow signs, without anyone actually having rush about putting a whole series of signs in place when an event occurs. At oher times a series of temporary boards with the signs are put out for a specific event when it happens. The specific shapes of these signs are just a random selection, so you can flag up different alternative routes on the same sign - so "For Peteerborough, follow [Black Triangle] and for Nottingham follow [Black circle]"
Motorways have very specific regulations that do not apply on other roads. For example:
"Motorways MUST NOT be used by pedestrians, holders of provisional motorcycle licences, riders of motorcycles under 50 cc (4 kW), cyclists, horse riders, certain slow-moving vehicles and those carrying oversized loads (except by special permission), agricultural vehicles, and powered wheelchairs".
The maximum speed limit is always 70 mph, as it is on dual carrigeways with a central barrier, whereas single carriageway roads ( that is, one carriageway in each direction) are never more than 60 mph.
It would be fun to see how much you would score on a British Theory Test with no prep.....some things will be the same, or intuitive, but others wll be so specific you wouldn't know the correct answer.
the thicker line identifies that this road has the right of way and you don't have stop at the crossing, just go right through. However, it warns you that there might be crazy, blind, or whatever drivers coming from the side roads. So, it tells you that is better to be safe than sorry, so be aware of the crossing. The roads with thinner lines must have a sign that tells that driver driver that he has to, that he must wait at the intersection until it is safe to move forward.
Signs in the UK are probably better universally recognised compared to american road signs.
Yes, I notice that a lot of US signs are dependent on English text (e.g. "Yield", or "Road Work Ahead"), which is not ideal. There is English text on a lot of UK road signs, of course, but usually only informative, or providing supplemental information. The most important signs are the same across a wide range of countries, so do not rely on knowledge of the local language.
In Italy also: it’d be a nightmare driving cross-border without the Vienna convention signage
Sometimes the text below a sign is important. E.g. "Parking not allowed" with "only for busses" or "not valid for busses" (probably not like that in the real world). Or the time limits which he got wrong. That's comparatively easy in the UK, but in other countries you need a dictionary.
@@reinhard8053 that’s why symbols are used. Also usually the main “don’t” is the symbol and the exceptions are worded, so if you only understand the symbol and you obey to it you’re good.
@@davidebacchi9030 But you might miss a parking spot which would be allowed for you. Or you can drive the road because the exception is targeting you and only blocks very long or heavy trucks. Or it is a P for Parking, but below is the exception from the allowance. Either in time or type of vehicle.
In Sweden there was a parking with some numbers(?) below it. These numbers belong to allowed vehicle types which are only used in Sweden. So you need some research to know what that means.
In Denmark there is a writing with "1hour" but that also includes that you MUST use a parking disc which is not written. In other countries that is either not necessary or there is a symbol.
So even obeying to all Dont's might not be enough. And even knowing the local language is not enough. Your really need to know all the fine details.
Margaret Vivienne Calvert (OBE RDI) was commissioned in the 1960s to create a lot of the iconic road signs still in use today - they are used throughout the United Kingdom, Crown Dependencies, and British Overseas Territories, as well as the Transport font used on road signs, the Rail Alphabet font used on the British railway system, and an early version of the signs used in airports.
In combination with Jock Kinneir, who was the typographer
British road signs convey a lot of useful information - it's a pity that so many drivers don't take a blind bit of notice.
It’s because most only memorise them to pass their theory test, once they past they forget 90% of them lol
If a diversion is complicated/lengthy, affecting routes to multiple locations (and for opposite directions), the diversion signs include the symbol specific to that diversio to be followed. So if you start a diversion and the one you want is a black square, then you know to follow the black square routes when signed as a diversion, and not the others
They can also be used as permanent route markers to industrial areas.
@@johnclements6614 Around here, some of the 'diversions' have become semi-permenant.
For example cars being diverted towards London might have a solid black square on the diversion sign so would follow all further diversion signs with a solid black square.
HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicles aka Trucks) might have a round empty sign to follow missing out weak bridges and hight restrictions on their diversion route.
On that example slide, there were 8 symbols. Meaning, up to 8 routes could merge and leave on 1 road. Each of the symbols would be like "bread-crumbs" for a specific diversion route. When entering a diverted route, the driver would be presented with only 1 of these symbols and then follows the same symbol along the diverted route until the end.
You would need to memorise all of them for your theory test. You only get asked 50 questions, but you dont know what they will be. The pass mark is 43.
You can do mock tests online to practice, or in the olds days just buy and read the Highway code book
I may send this chap a copy of Roadcraft, maybe The Highway Code too just because.
If you want then dude they'll be yours.
Direction signs are on a blue background for motorways, green for A roads, red for military bases and so on and brown for tourist destinations or places of interest.
The triangle signs, the black parts are the roads. Think of them as roads not symbols and it'll make more sense for you :) The pointed end is the direction of travel (you going forward) and the size of the black is the priority, so you'll see other roads (thinner black) joining your road (thick Black). So the double bend is literally that, the road you are on is about to bend pretty hard like a snake and it bends left first then right so slow TF down :) Some of our tight bends you're down to like 10mph (16km in US), certainly not something you want to be tanking towards at 70mph. I mean to be fair, you don't even have bends in your cities let alone roads with your paint by numbers grid systems ;)
In the UK we have alot of sharp bends, often to one side then the other, especially on rural roads where historically they followed the edges of fields of uneven shapes and sizes.
"Bends" are what you'd call curves, except usually not as easy to negotiate at speed.
21:10 Fun fact about the STOP sign. It is the ONLY hexagonal sign in the UK, this is so that if for any reason the sign cannot be read (such as covered in snow/dirt) you can still tell that it is a STOP sign.
Same for the Give Way sign, it's the only one that is an inverted triangle
The national speed limit sign, white circle with black diagonal line, is usually seen when you leave town/urban areas toward the "big open road". The national speed limit depends on the type of road and vehile you're driving - for a normal car on a standard single lane road it's 60mph, on multiple lane roads with a central reservation (median) it's 70mph. If you're towing a tralier or driving a large truck, the speed limit is lower. This is another one of those things we learn for our theory test...
The sign originally meant the the road had no set speed limit (a de-restricted road). It was repurposed to indicate The National Speed Limit when it was introduced in 1965. It was initially a short-term experiment that was extended and then made permanent in 1967.
It was originally called a 'delimiter' because it meant there was NO speed limit - until the 70 maximum was brought in. That's why in concept it is a 'cancelling' style sign, with the diagonal bar but no red ring to mean prohibition.
You do have to be a bit careful on dual carriageways not to assume it's automatically a 70mph limit. Several years ago, I was stuck in a broken down car on a dual carriageway, with a police car parked behind us with its lights on as protection until the breakdown service arrived, and police told us that that dual carriageway was only 60mph, but because it didn't have clear signage, people assumed that it was 70mph limit and a lot of people ended up with speeding tickets along there.
That road has only a single speed limit sign to indicate when it changes to a 60 limit, but that is enough for the speeding tickets to stick, even though on windy days it can be partly obscured by a tree.
National speed limit is one a lot of Brits get wrong too. It basically means that the road has not been assessed for a specific speed limit, which happens a lot in the countryside. The limit actually changes depending on the type of road and vehicle you are driving. For a car on a single carriageway (without a central lane divider) its 60mph. On a dual carriageway (with a central divider) its 70mph. There are other speed limits if you drive a car with a trailer, a goods van, a lorry.
Even the police make mistakes too. I was pulled over for going over 60 on a single lane dual carriageway last summer.
You can reformulate it as being the end of any special speed restrictions. From now on you need to obey the national speed restrictions (inside city, outside city and highway speeds)
Also depends on the street lighting options
Take a look a 20mph limits in Wales lol
actually the speed you drive at is dependant on the driving conditions, you can and will be charged if you are driving at a speed unsuitable to the conditions, if you are driving at the speed limit in heavy rain or snow or fog you can be charged for speeding
21:24 - For car drivers, national speed limit is 60mph on single carriageways and 70mph on dual carriageways where you see the Ø sign, unless otherwise stated with a different maximum speed limit sign. Even though a lot of narrow and windy single lane roads, often with banks either side and limited passing places in rural areas have the Ø sign, you wouldn't want to be doing 60mph on them if you can't see what's coming around the next bend.
Actually more complicated than that. The national speed limit depends on two factors, the type of road (single, dual carriageway, motorway) and the type of vehicle. I don't know them all but I know, for example, that cars towing a trailer or caravan are limited to 60 on a dual carriageways and motorways and 50 on single carriageways. Certain vans also have a similar limit but I think they get to still to 70 on motorways - obvioulsy if I drive such a van I would find out the exact details.
@@andyjdhurley Yeah - I overlooked cars towing caravans, LGVs with and without trailers (under 7.5 tons), HGVs (over 7.5 tons) and buses/coaches. A Transit or similar panel or Luton van is limited to 50 on a single carriageway, 60 on a dual carriageway and 70 on a motorway (60 if towing a trailer). Car derived vans are the same as regular cars.
The "except bicycles being pushed" part of the "no vehicles" sign might not be obvious, but bicycles are generally held to similar legal standards to motorised vehicles. Probably the best-known example of this is present in the British version of Monopoly, where one of the cards has a small fine for the offence "drunk in charge of a bicycle".
A major use of a "no vehicles" sign would be for access routes for emergency services vehicles responding to an emergency - they're generally given some leeway to break the rules of the road under those circumstances.
"No waiting" signs mean exactly what they say - vehicles may not wait on the affected stretch of road, for instance to pick passengers up or park. Clearway signs ("no stopping") are more restrictive - vehicles must keep moving while on the affected stretch of road, as long as it's safe to do so.
Minimum speed signs are sometimes used outside high-security facilities in an attempt to prevent clear pictures being taken. In general, though, they're basically clearway signs but more restrictive again.
Crossroad warning signs are generally only used for uncontrolled crossroads - crossroads which don't have road markings or traffic lights directing the flow of traffic.
The "t-junction with priority" sign is a less-commonly seen sign. There's one particular junction in a town not too far from where I live which could stand to use similar signs with a fourth road added - it's basically a crossroads, except that the priority road is a 90-degree bend.
The double-bend sign is a warning of sharp curves that go in opposite directions. Steep hills which have zigzagging roads going up them might warrant that sign.
"Pedestrians in road ahead" is far more common in rural areas than in built-up areas, but it might be used in pedestrianised parts of towns and cities too.
Overhead electric cable warnings could well be used in conjunction with tram warning signs - not that I've ever seen either in the UK.
Ice on the road can be a big problem for British drivers - we don't routinely get major snow- or icestorms in most of the UK, so the warning is mostly for non-locals, who wouldn't routinely carry gear to handle icy roads. We would always have the triangular sign, but we might not have the rectagular informational sign underneath it.
Soft verges! The verge is the ground to the side of the roadway. Soft verges are verges which are generally unsuitable for driving on for most vehicles, such as boggy ground or sand. The warning is basically "if any of your wheels go off the road, you're probably stuck".
Other people have explained hump or hump-backed bridges, I'll just add that they're a particular problem for articulated lorries and other long vehicles - it's often possible to ground a long vehicle on the top of a hump-backed bridge.
The quayside/riverbank warning is that there's no barrier between the roadway and the water's edge. If you lose control and go off the road, you're probably going into the water.
Loose chippings is basically warning either of road resurfacing in progress or of unfinished road. Either way, it's warning about the potential for high-velocity gravel being propelled into your windshield.
School crossing patrols are basically manned crossings on commonly-walked routes to a school or schools that don't have designated crossings or underpasses. They're usually only manned during certain times of the day, and they provide a safe way for children to cross high-traffic roads to get to school.
There are technically four different national speed limits in the UK. In built-up areas (the definition usually given is "areas with street lights and roadside paths"), the limit is 30 mph. Outside of those areas, except on motorways, the limit is 60 mph. On motorways, the limit is 70 mph, unless you're driving a lorry or other large vehicles, when it's 60. Your guess was pretty much spot on, though!
Side note: You'll sometimes see speed limit signs that specify a limit that is the speed limit for that particular type of road - usually in built-up areas. The major reasons are to remind drivers that they are still in a built-up area and that even though this might seem like a bit of fast road, it really isn't and going too fast may lead to mowing down a pedestrian by accident, to slow drivers down from roads that have higher limits or to allow them to speed up after being on roads with lower limits. The faster ones also have reasoning behind their use, but I can't actually remember what it is.
A ring road is a large, topologically-circular road that surrounds a city or part of a city. It's supposed to facilitate travel around portions of the city, kind of like a by-pass for large chunks of city.
With-flow bus and cycle lanes go the same way as the rest of the traffic, contra-flow lanes go the opposite way. It's a somewhat disconcerting sight to see traffic going the opposite direction on your left in the UK, but it does happen in a few places.
Emergency diversion routes are almost never used. I'm not 100% on what they're for myself, but my belief is that if say, a stretch of motorway is blocked because of a major accident, following the relevant symbols will get you around the blockage. The symbols on those signs don't carry any informational content, they're just there to be high-contrast and easy to discern.
What we call a mtorway, you'd generally call a freeway. There are portions of the A1 which are treated as motorway, designated A1(M). There are also bits of motorway in a couple of cities, such as Newcastle-upon-Tyne - the A167(M) is a major barrier to pedestrians, which is why they stuck a couple of pedestrian bridges in between the high-student-population areas on the one side and the two university campuses on the other.
We have (approximately) four "classes" of road, although there are arguably as many as six. Motorways (e.g. the M5) are major traffic arteries, which a lot of people use when travelling long distances - equivalent to the US freeway or interstate. A-roads are large roads that (are expected to) see a lot of traffic use - equivalent to the US highway, and often dual-carriageway, but many A-roads are just large roads. B-roads are typical single-carriageway roads, and many "travel roads" in towns and cities are B-roads. There's also a large network of A- and B-roads that extend between most (if not all) towns and cities in the UK. C-roads are smaller than B-roads, and are not numbered, unlike motorways, A-roads and B-roads. Most residential roads in towns and cities are C-roads, and they're also a part of the network of roads outside towns and cities, connecting to villages, hamlets and other locations which aren't on an A- or B-road already. Some people might include unpaved roads in C-roads, others would class them as their own thing. Cycle routes are arguably roads, too, but I doubt that most people would generally think of a cycle route when they think of a road.
Quayside is pronounced 'key-side' harbour loading dock, often no barrier as it is open for loading operations.
Also sometimes get them next to canals or rivers where there is no road barriers separating them. Another place you see it is on small bridges over streams or raised up fording points which don't have side barriers stopping you going into deeper water.
The arrow on things like the cross roads etc shows the primary route for the vehicle on the road. So for the cross road, the arrow shows that ahead is the primary route for you as you read it. Soft verges was the last of your own explanation and is a warning that should you stop at the side of the road, it is soft, i.e grass or mud. It's a warning so people don't park up and get stuck or if they clip the edge of the verge they may lose grip.
Quayside (pronounced keyside) is an area around a quay where it meets the water.
National speed limit - is 70mph for dual carriage ways and 60mph for single. Your own explanation is pretty much spot on. A lot of rural roads in the UK don't have speed limit signs and no set speed limit, so a national speed limit sign would indicate you can go up to 60mph (for single carriageways) however for many of these roads, it would be very hard to get anywhere near that speed safely due to how narrow they are.
"Quayside" is pronounced "Keyside", which is where they/you load/unload boats.
25:08 A "home zone" is an area where children are free to play in the street. Maximum speed is walking speed until you leave the zone. So, these are found in residential areas.
Road classifications:
M
A
AM
B
Unclassified
M - motorway eg M1
A - a main road (sometimes a dual carriageway) eg A1
Dual carriageway is a 2 lane road with the same speed limit as a motorway, and has a safety barrier between the traffic. Road name doesn’t indicate a dual carriageway eg A1
Some dual carriageways are built to motorway standard eg A1M (then the M appears at the end).
Motorways have a hard shoulder (breakdown lane), or refuge areas (safe places to pull in if you break down) at regular intervals.
Dual carriageways don’t have hard shoulders, but often have parking lay-bys (motorways don’t have parking lay-bys at all).
Next are B roads eg B139 - these are slower roads, usually quite bendy, narrower
Then there’s unclassified roads, which basically are country roads, often very narrow without lines down the middle because they’re too narrow.
The diversion route symbols needed further explaination. It's simple: If the normal route is closed (perhaps for repair) they will mark out an alternative route for you to follow so that you end up where the closed road would have taken you. Quite often there is more than one potential destination, hence different shapes. You would see "Diversion" and a yellow shape (eg a square) and then you know to look for yellow squares and follow them. It's just a courtasy to keep everyone moving instead of having to consult a map or phone etc.
Someone else might have wanted to get elsehwere via that same closed road, but they would have been given a different shape to follow.
The signs are usually placed before a turn or roundabout, in good time to inform you (and then on it, also)
It can be very nerve-wracking when you start following diversion signs and then you don't see one for ages! Like "I am lost here, GIMME SOMETHING!"
Ahhh okay! That sounds like the equivalent of our 'Detour' signs then. :)
Nice explanation. Yes, very easy to miss a diverted route sign and end up off-route for miles!
Quay is pronounced Key, like the place Torquay - Torkee. A Quay is a part of a marina or dock where boats get tied up. Pretty much you could get to a place with a sudden drop or wall at which the bottom of is a body of water, just like the picture.
What I love is how quickly you grasped the concepts, and try to logically work out ones that aren't as obvious. You're doing better than most Brits who have been allowed to drive on the roads for decades. 👌😂
19:10 'Soft verge' is (I assume) the equivalent of 'Soft Shoulder' in the US. It's not so much that the shoulder drops off, it's more that if you get into it, it will likely pull you in, or otherwise be difficult to get out of.
Also, you'd be surprised how many of these signs have functional equivalents in the US. Some are extremely rare in the field, but they are in the standards
Great video as always!
There were a fair few things in there that could've been explained better and that you asked that I can't remember 😂 - The diversion routes weren't really explained at all, when there's a road closure on a main (usually hgv/lorry/truck) route, they'll put diversion signs up, and one of those symbols will be on the sign, follow the diversion signs with the same symbol and they'll get you to the other side of the closure - It allows for multiple diversions to be in the same area, for example in one direction it might be the square, in the other direction it'll be the triangle.
You'll also see those symbols on routes from ports and international terminals so that drivers who don't speak English very well can be told to follow the route with that particular symbol.
13:40
Double bends are super common in rural areas 😁
The roads conform to what's already there naturally or structurally.
In Richmond, North Yorkshire, I remember a tiny bend (almost 180° on itself) with a stuuuupidly massive incline. Oh, and surrounded by ancient stone walls that you wouldn't wanna crash into 😅
We also have B roads, which are often the size of a single lane with dirt on the edges. You'll find these behind cities and towns, usually around farmland 😁
They are notoriously difficult, especially if you have a large vehicle, and another large vehicle is coming towards you 😂 Many a time people drive onto the dirt verge to let others pass. Good luck if you're behind a harvester or a tractor, overtaking on B roads is almost a death sentence 😂
Not only are they tiny roads, but they're stupidly bendy at times! 😂
Hedgerow can also make spotting the bends difficult, so the more warnings the better.
only the Romans built straight roads, the Dutch put in straight drainage ditches so some of their roads are dead straight the rest were marked out by farmers coming home from the pub. I'm told
That sounds pretty intense! :)
@@ianprince1698 sounds way more plausible! 😂
As 99% of the world uses these or almost identical signs (some countries have a few extras specific to them) we all see many of them every day as we grow up & learn their meaning just as Americans learn theirs.
They were all created as a universal standard with almost every country in the world having a say in the designs (even America was involved) so they are understood easily anywhere in the world.
So now wherever we travel to around the world (except to the US) we all understand the local road signs when we get there.
A "Loose Chippings" is usually a temporary sign put up during or after resurfacing of the road using tar and gravel to make asphalt but the work is not completely done, so some of the gravel is still loose on the road surface.
"Quay" is a jetty or harbour edge and is pronounced "key".
The sign at 19:42 Hump bridge we used to call it a humpback bridge. You generally find them in small towns and villages crossing small streams. Back in the day of horse and carrage speed was not a problem. They were only built wide enough to span the gap and back then they were built from stone which was built in an arch form. This meant that they rose and fell quite steep on both sides. Now when you drive to fast over them you will get airbourne. Some of the bridges are a few hundred years old.
Have you ever tried "bridge curling"? It's like ice curling, but with your car. Basically, when you know a suitable bridge is approaching, you have to go at a specific decided speed (eg somewhere between 10mph to 20mph) and then quickly put your foot on the clutch to coast towards the bridge. The goal is to judge the distance required to stop exactly on the bridge without rolling off (for at least a few seconds). Great fun with passengers, but the point you have to coast from will change depending on the loaded weight of the car, which adds a new challenge trying to figure out how much further or shorter having your uncle on board will cause you to travel!
( Of course, be safe. Typically best played only on familiar roads, and at night to not inconvenience other road users whilst you drift along at 5mph.)
@@UnknownSquid I was born near Portsmouth and there were a couple of humpback bridges. I been living in Germany now over 50 years and have never seen a humpback bridge here. So I won't be able to have a go at bridge curling 🙂
You find a lot of humpback bridges are for crossing canals..
The "no waiting" is sometimes placed near schools or something similar where people will have their cars stopped and wait for the kids to come out. It basically means that even though you're still in the car and ready to go, you're not allowed to park your car there for a second to wait for someone to come in or out of the car.
The "Crossroads ahead" point is basically showing who has priority, in this case, the road you're on.
The "Double bend" is basically a sharp turn in the road because of natural terrain, man made terrain or anything else. Basically the road turns twice (first to the left, although may be reversed).
Zebra crossings are parts of the road where people cross where the people have priority. If you see someone about to cross, you HAVE to stop. They are depicted with big white stripes on the road going with the grain of vehicle traffic going across the width of the entire road. They are also usually accompanied by flashings lights on either side (I think yellow or orange, but I'm colourblind)
A "hump bridge" is typically a fairly steep arch bridge that is sometimes so narrow only one car is able to cross at a time. Depending on how obstructed the view is, you'd also have traffic lights accompanying them.
The "Loose Chippings" sign is where a newly constructed road or a road without a paved sidewalk where bits of the road or loose rocks/stones can be kicked up and hit cars behind you or coming the opposite way.
The national Speed limit is 60 MPH if there is no barrier in between you and the opposite flow of traffic. It raises to 70 if there is a barrier in place (can be a line of trees, it can just be a guard rail). We only go the national speed limit when we see the sign to go the national speed limit. If we do not see a speed limit sign, it means the previous one on that we came across still applies and to go that one instead.
A ring road is a road that basically goes in a huge circle. The largest one by that definition would be the M25. A-roads are major roads between regional towns and cities but an M road is a motorway. A motorway is like the Freeway over there. Only accessible from slip roads.
With flow typically typically means that it's going to be sticking to the left side of whatever going in their direction, the same as cars, lorries, trucks, motorcycles, etc.
The diversion signs are basically if there is a road shutdown for repaving or something and it has multiple end points, you look for the one with the same shape as your endpoint. eg; they could say Buckingham palace follow the filled in square and you go on your way following the filled in square until it says diversion ends for filled in square. This isn't a normal occurrence where I live but happens more in larger cities.
I may be slightly wrong on some of these so I welcome any corrections in the replies. Just keep it civil.
Yellow is usually information about roadworks or road closures. If there is a diversion put in place to get you round a closure, you look for the symbol along that diversion route to tell you which way to go. It will appear, for example, on a roundabout sign to tell you which exit to take to follow the diversion.
Brown signs are just helpful information signs, so they might tell you which junction to take to go to see a castle, museum, beach, zoo etc
Loose chippings, refers to a road surface with small gravel, that have been top dressed with tar, then the vehicles themselves compress it down. It's a cheaper way of resurfacing roads on a short term basis.
Sometimes you end up with a cracked windscreen 😅
'Sign not in use'. The craziest sign I have ever seen was an old sign from the Great Northern Railway on the East Coast mainline, which said 'Do not deface this notice'.
It is usually attached to the road sign it is referring to.
hahah yeah, seems kinda unnecessary. although, if as someone pointed out it's attached to a different road sign I guess that makes more sense
The main point of the Vienna system (which is what the UK uses a version of) is to avoid using words. So once you have them memorized you can get information very fast and at a glance. Signs that rely on words are slower to take in and distracts the driver.
As a French living in North America, I am always amazed to see written signs instead of pictures. In some states, they will write the word Moose or Deer instead of actually showing the animals.
I've been driving for 21 years and never seen some of these, and wasn't that sure what some of them they were telling me.
Regarding the white circle with a black stripe, the National Speed Limit varies by what type of vehicle you're driving, and the type of road you're driving on.
For cars that would be 60mph on a standard two-way road (where you're in the lane going your direction, and the opposite lane has oncoming traffic). But if you're a car on a road where there is more than one lane going the same direction as you, your national speed limit is 70mph. However, if you were in a lorry (large goods vehicle), or a car towing something, the limit is about 10 or 20 less than those examples. So that's why it doesn't say 60 or 70, because it depends on your vehicle.
I have lived in Great Britain all of my life, and learned from looking outside the car windows, what most of the signs mean. There are a number of them that I have not seen, for example a Minimum Speed limit sign. That is the blue circle with the number in white. Or the No Explosives sign.
The signs that show military bases, are white rectangular signs, with a red border round the edges. Then directing you to wherever the entrance is. I normally keep away from those places.
The pictures on the signs will explain what is happening. So for warnings, you can see the picture, and know how to react.
You get minimum speed limits in tunnels usually.
Minimum speed limits and the no explosives signs are both normally posted at the entrance to tunnels
Sometimes, on a highway with 2 or more lanes you will find the minimum speed limit sign. This indicates that some of those lanes are fast lanes, so if you want to drive on those lanes you must obey the minimum speed limit indicated, avoiding this way, slowing down the traffic behind you. If you want to drive slower, then move to a slow lane. In most of Europe, the right lane is the slowest one. Suppose you are driving across some moutains, climbing a steep hill and ahead of you there are a few trucks with heavy loads moving slowly, on the right lane. So, to overtake those trucks you move to the fast lane. Now, if you drive slowly on that fast lane, you are blocking all the traffic behind you. So, this traffic signs just tells you that you are not allowed to use that lane unless you drive faster than the minimum speed limit (and below the maximum allowed by law, of course). If there are like 3 lanes, one of them might have a minimum speed of 100Km/h (left lane), the center lane with a minimum speed of 70Km/h, and the right lane has no speed information. HOWEVER, you MUST drive on that lane if you don't want to overtake anybody and the maximum speed limit for all lanes is what the law allows for that road. Those signs make sense if you are driving on a busy road with 2 or more lanes and with lots of slow moving traffic.
Here's an example of the Minimum Speed Limit sign - maps.app.goo.gl/NzN4ix9bSNdda6F1A
If you ever get to drive through Lincoln you will ge able to see the No Explosives sign when head up to or down from the Cathedral Quarter on the main road on the eastern side of the Cathedral Quarter. It's the only place I know where this sign has been put up due to the steepness of the road.
A ring road is a road that surrounds a town or city to help with the flow of traffic different to a motorway
No waiting: You can't park even if you don't leave your vehicle.
Mini roundabouts: T-junctions where roundabout rules apply.
Crossroads: The arrow shows your perspective in your direction of travel.
Double bend first to left: two sharp turns ahead, first one goes to the left.
Quayside is pronounced key-side. Its a dock, sea wall, etc with not barriers.
Road humps: speed bumps.
Loose chippings: the road has been re-surfaced and the chippings is the top layer over the tar. Risk of slipping and throwing up stones.
National speed limit: Means you can go up to the maximum legal speed, which is 70mph.
Ring road: instead of going through a town or city, there is a dedicated road going around it. London's ring road is the M25.
With flow: Following in direction of normal traffic. Contra-flow or contradicted flow is a special deviation from the norm.
Route symbols: Its mean you follow a diversion to a destination. Circle goes to here, diamond goes to there. You don't see them very often.
Home zone entry: single entry point for cars, bikes and pedestrians. No sidewalks.
Motorway is your interstate, highway is an dual carriage way or 'A' road, a 'B' road is a single carriage way, 'C' road is a narrow carriage way, 'D' is a country lane and 'E' is a dirt road.
The big difference in Europe and most of the world is that road signs are symbols. This is done because its easier to use a universal symbol because of different languages. In the US, its spelt out in plain english, that wouldn't be practical if you had to do that in a dozen languages.
We even have it in cars too. In American cars, the controls are written, in European cars, they're symbols. For example: the cigarette lighter will say 'lighter'. Here, its a picture of a cigarette.
the loose chippings sign is only used on roads that are being (or have just been) worked on, so it's a warning that there might be small nits of broken up tarmac left on the road that could be kicked up at pedestrians or other cars if you go to fast. You are correct on the national speed limit sign, unless told otherwise by another sign your max speed is the NSL and the sign you saw will appear at the end of an area that has had a lower speed limit to tell you you can speed back up. The national speed limit is 60mph unless you are on a motorway in which case it is 70mph, although that is also different for frate lorries and cars pulling trailers or caravans, they have their own limits that they are not meant to go over for safety since they weigh more or are harder to control.
You are right on the "with flow" sign as well, it just means going in the same direction as traffic.
70mph isn’t just on motorways, many dual carriageway A roads have a permitted 70mph speed limits - eg the A9 in Scotland has long sections of 70mph dual carriageway with no central barrier but on the single carriage way sections the limit is 60mph and often 50mph for miles and miles. The signage for the 70mph sections is not the National Speed Limit sign but a red circle with 70 in black text in it - the speed limit is enforced along much of this road’s length by avaerage speed cameras too (something that many drivers don’t seem to understand how they work………. And treat each post as an individual speed camera and slow right down as they approach one then speed up once they pass it not realising the system is a bit more sophisticated than that!
Thanks for making me smile Steve! I loved your attempt at pronouncing quayside. It is things like that which make me love our common language.
There may be a lot of signs in the UK, but some I have never seen in 40+ years driving, even some on this video.
I remember during a driving lesson, my instructor asked what road sign we had just passed. He was not impressed when I said that I did not know. He made me go round to drive along the same road. He asked again. My answer was the same. He said that I was obviously not learning my Highway Code. I parked the car. Gave him my copy of the Code, and asked him to show me the sign - it wasn't there. He didn't apologise, and didn't explain, so to this day I've no idea what the sign was.
Every UK road user should be aware of the Official Highway Code, pedestrians, horse rider, drivers, etc! For more information about road signs there is a book "Know your Traffic Signs. I've looked through a copy and knew what the majority meant.
On Motorways there is always a sign showing exits, at one mile, half mile and 300, 200 and 100 yards. Still get idiots pushing for exit at last moment!
@@Brian3989 I think you missed the point.
A driving instructors job is to instruct. Where there is a lack of knowledge then they should convey that knowledge to the learner. Given that the sign was not in the highway code, it fell to the instructor to provide that information to the student but they failed to do so.
In other words they were a poor instuctor.
My own driving instructor was a nightmare, that put me off driving except anytime I needed to for my chosen occupation, which at that time was as a member of the British Army.
Although I was being taught as part of my army career, the instructors were civilians, who were hired by the Army. This was done with 1 caar with instructor and 2 learners, swapping over from time to time during the course of a day. We'd fit fifty hours driving into a three week course.
My first day I got to drive first and left camp and followed the directions that I was given, at least until we were appraoching a roundabout. The instructor gave me the following instruction.
"At the roundabout ahead, take the road that leads to Darlington."
I checked the signpost. The first exit was a small line and was unlabeled. The second was a larger line and included Darlington as a destination, but it also showed that it led to a motorway.
Knowing, that as a learner, I was not permitted on a motorway, and given that only that this one exit mark was the only one to list Darlington, I assumed (wrongly) that we would travel down that road until directed to take another road prior to reaching the motorway.
I entered the roundabout without any problem and followed what I believed was the correct route. As we passed the first, unlabeled exit the intructor slammed on the brake, bring the car to a halt, stalling the engine ("because I had not pressed in the clutch"), and most worrying caused an articulated lorry to narrowly avoiding hitting us.
I was then berated for missing the exit, stalling the car, and nearly causing an accident. This berating included a lot of expletives.
I point out that I was doing as instructed, and taking the exit that led to Darlington.
My instructor said "This isn't the way we normally go to Darlington."
I looked at him as if one of us is stupid, and said. "This is my first day. How am I supposed to know which way you would normally go?"
All this time we were sat in the roundabout partly obstructing traffic, as my instructor refused to let me restart the car again until I had admitted that I was in the wrong.
When we did start driving again we took the second exit (the one that was sign posted to Darlington and the motorway, and then took a turn onto a road before we reached the motorway, and we still reached Darlington, by this route, so I was not entirely wrong in my assumption.
When the driving day was over and we got back to camp, the instructors filled in Captain Farmer, who was in charge of driver training, on the days events. I, and the other learner I was with, were summoned to his office to explain what had happened. My insturctor claimed that I had failed to follows his instructions, stalled the car on the roundabout, nearly caused a crash, and became abusive to him afterwards. I explained my version of events (as written above), and the other learner basically said that all he remembered was the lorry narrowly avoiding hitting us. Captain Farmer believed me, at least as far as the sign post was concerned, as he drove past it often enough, but also believed the instructor when he said that he had told me "to take the first exit".
Things deteriorated from there, and in my second week, my instructor recommended dropping me from the course. As driving was a trade requirement, this would have resulted in over a year of basic and trade training being wasted, so Captain farmer arranged for a driving examiner to give me a mock test to see if I would continue driver training. Despite being required to carryout things that I hadn't yet been taught, the examiner reported back that I was fully able to pass a test. Despite this, at the end of my third week, my instructor refused to put me forward for the driving test, and as it needed the instructor to sign off, I was not allowed to sit my driving test at that time.
A few months later I was again required to take the driver training course. This time I was hoping that I would get a different instructor, but was prepared if I didn't. I again got the same instructor, and before we set out on that first day, both me and the instructor had to meet with Captain Farmer. Captain Farmer said that he was pairing us up again and hoped for better this time around, and reminded the instructor that if I didn't get to pass my test this time, then I would have wasted over a year of training.
When we set out this time I got to be the back seater, and the other learner was the driver. Being in the back seat let me use my secret weapon, a mini-cassette recorder. As we approached the same roundabout the instructor again gave the instruction, "At the roundabout ahead, take the road that leads to Darlington." If it wasn't for the seatbelt I'd have been jumping around for joy as I now had him on tape saying that. The learner who was driving made the same mistake that I had done on my first time, and again similar things happened, except for the near miss with an articualted lorry.
Again there was another meeting with Captain Farmer. Again the instructor claimed that it was all the learners fault, and again the learner (this time not me) claimed otherwise. When Captain Farmer turned to me he asked if I had somehow arranged this as our two stories were so similar. My response was, "Sir, I will let [NAME REDACTED] tell you what happened in his own words." I then produced the mini-cassette recorder and pressed play, and everyone got to hear what actually happened. Me and the other learner were dismissed, and Captain Farmer "spoke" to the instructor.
I was stuck with that instructor for the remainder of the three weeks, and at the end of it I was put forward for my driving test, over my instructors objections (seems Captain Farmer used the recording I had made to get him to sign off on me taking the test), and I passed. A few months after this I had to learn about military driving, such as operating in convoys, cross country driving, etc, etc. Once I got to my first working unit, which due to my trade being airfield support meant that I almost exclusively worked on RAF airfields (yes I was army but worked for the RAF), and I again had to learn new stuff. This time how to drive on airfields and around aircraft. I also had to take both written and practical tests to be able to drive in (what was then) West (and later become just) Germany. This was so I could drive military vehicles on German roads. At the end of all this I had a UK licence, a German driving permit (so I could operate military vehicles on German roads), and an airfield driving permit.
In short, some instructors can be a-holes. Again, it is their job to instruct, and where there is a gap, they should fill that gap. They should never, as happened with me and at least one other, become abusive with a learner. The instructor described by @PLuMUK54 also sounds like an a-hole. Remember that the sign that was being complained about was NOT in the highway code, and when that was made clear to the instructor, no information, explanation or apology was forth coming. Chastising a learner for a lack of knowledge, when that knowledge is not listed in the highway code is abusive, and given that the instructor failed to provide the answer, it calls into question their own knowledge base.
Traffic has priorioty over on coming vehicles. One of the questions that got a smile off my examiner in my first (Class 4) driving test. I gacve that answer and hesitated.
"Something else you want to say?"
"Well that's what the Highway Code says, but, especially when the obstruction is on a blind bend, I read it as ... ' unless the oncoming traffic has begun its manouver before we become co-visible"
he looked at my instructer sitting down the back who was almost laughing.
"Never heard any one qualify it so well"
A problem is, too many people, especially now we have multiople choice type answers rather than huyman questioning and feedback and discussion in tests, take the rules as being 'black and white' and forget the need to understand the nuances of road situations.
🔺️ left then right bend - this is more warning of blind corners where you will not see traffic ahead.
🔺️ hump Bridge - it's pretty much what the picture indicates. A bridge that spans a small river, and as such the road will rise up and over, usually within a small distance. Mostly found in country roads.
🔺️ quayside or riverbank - so quayside (pronounced key-side) is essentially a built up dock area by a river or canal. The sign basically warns that there may be no barriers between your car and a sudden drop into water.
🔺️ loose chippings - usually found when or after road resurfacing, as parts of the road may still be unsettled and loose. Can also be found on gravel or dirt roads. Warning, don't follow too close behind vehicles as stones may fly up and chip your window
⚪ national speed limit - typically found on motorways or country roads. This sign informs drivers they can drive the speed limit deemed safe for that type of road. This sign is mostly followed after other prohibiting speed signs to allow traffic to resume normal speeds. Please note, unless otherwise specified on signs, the national speed limit for built up areas is 30mph. Only motorways or A roads will this sign apply and inform you of the 70mph speed zones
🟦 with flow/ contra flow bus & cycle lanes. Essentially there is a bus or cycle lane that follows the same direction as traffic you are in. Stay in your designated lane and do not enter bus lane. Contra-flow version means your road is essentially a one way street, except for a bus lane which flows in the opposite direction. Keep out of bus lane
Motorway is pretty much interstate/intercity roads with typically 3 lanes of traffic flowing each way and most will include a hard shoulder or breakdown zone.
A roads are similar to your highways. Single or duel lane traffic with slightly different rules and will not have hard shoulders or breakdown zones.
As with everything, you kinda just get the hang of things through practice, and you'll rarely find as many signs on your day to day travels. A lot of these signs are just there to say "Hey, be careful for "this" hazard".
I haven't read all the comments so hope no one else has mentioned this. I am a bus driver and during my training my instructer told me that about 90% of the signs on the road are for heavy commercial vehicles. i.e. a double bend sign: a car migth not notice it much at 50 mph but a truck would turn over, similarly with soft verges, electric cables - frequently seen at level crossing where the road passes beneath railway catenary systems and warns that high vehicles could catch the cables or induce an electrical short, No explosive materials to be carried (esepecially in tunnels) ""try your brakes" after fording through water, "32' 5m length limit (one near me where the bends are so tight that long vehicles would jam against houses etc Hope this helps
The double bend one is really useful when on small country roads with large hedge rows are obscuring sharp narrow corners up ahead. National speed limit speed varies, on a single track road its 60mph for cars and 50mph for heavy vehicles. On dual carage ways and motorways the NS is 70mph for cars and 60mph for heavy vehicles. The only exception to that rule is if you are driving an Audi or BMW in which case the speed limit is 100mph an all roads...😊
And of course those speed limits apply on double bends! You really don’t want to try a ‘double bend’ at 60 😂. So it is also a warning to drive accordingly.
You must ist learn to understand British humour & irony. The last sentence here is a bad joke against Audi & BMW drivers who drive like the law and traffic rules don't apply to them. Unfortunately there are lot of them. But that same driving style is common to most car drivers and a lot of cyclists and disabled scooter (max 8mph) who ate not required to take a test and have never bothered to read the Highway Code even though they are allowed on the road: because they would be more dangerous on the pavement(footpath)
The UK road signs are the same as most of the world's roadsigns, we all adhere to an international standard. It's the US that's the odd one out. They were asked to join in the 50s, and they saw it as a step towards communism as Russia were in the system. 😂😂😂😂 American roadsigns are terrible if you don't speak English.
Exactly
You can just see the difference too.
The British ones are reliant on shape and colouring to tell the message, not just the symbol in the middle.
American ones rely heavily on text, and are mostly square or basically rotated squares (diamonds)
Ring roads are one long continuous road that usually surrounds the centre of a town or city.
"loose chippings" warns of a surface where the grit isn't fixed down into the tarmac properly. It's usually a temporary road sign, when the road has been resurfaced and the chippings haven't yet been bedded in by traffic.
The theory test consists of two parts.
The first being 50 questions which you have to get a minium of 43(i think) correct.
The second part being a hazard perception. Where you watch videos of accodents/ danger waiting to happen, and you have to click within a certain time. In which you need to score 44 out of 75.
Fail either part and you've failed.
National speed limit is 70 on motorways and dual carriageways but only 60 on other roads so the sign will mean either depending on the road its displayed on. As an aside if no speed sign is shown and the road has street lighting then the limit is 30 by default
Speed limits other than the 30 mph in towns and national speed limit outside must be displayed with unlit repeater signs every 250 metres on alternate side of the road. Where the speed limit changes there must be an illuminated sign on both sides of the road.
Loose chippings refers to older road surfaces which aren’t surfaced with Tarmac. These surfaces are basically hot bitumen with coarse chippings dropped on top. When these roads have been resurfaced there are LOTS of loose chippings which didn’t “glue” to the road surface, and are a hazard if you drive too quickly over them (risk of skidding, or chips flying around).
13:53 Exactly what it says on the tin. There is a sharp left, followed by a sharp right. US equivalent would be a yellow diamond sign with an arrow that cuts to the left, then back up again, at 90 degree angles.
The motorbike theory test is different to the car one too.
Plus most of the world, especially Europe, use the same or similar signs.
It's not that much different, well when I did mine it wasn't but that was 20 years ago now. 90% of it was the same as the car theory test
@@derekdelboytrotter8881 it's a separate test. Diffrent from the car one.
Did mine about 3 years ago.
@@101steel4 they must have changed it since I did mine, they have changed a lot of things. Even they way you do your test has changed, when I did mine I did the A2 test which restricts you to 250cc for 2 years then you can ride whatever you wanted but I think now you can only do the full direct access version of the test, correct me if I'm wrong by all means
@derekdelboytrotter8881
You can only do "direct access" if you are over 25, otherwise it's A2
@@danewood2309 oh really? I was 19 when I did the A2, but I had the choice to do direct access but it would have cost me like £500
The National speed limit in the UK is 70mph on dual carriageways and motorways and 60mph on single carriageways.
For cars that are not towing. Other limits apply to other vehicles in different situations.
And 30mph if there are street lights
Well done, because you worked out so many signs that even a lot of drivers in the UK don't know!! :D
The A1 was a main road (north/south) the M1 was the motorway made to alleviate traffic, the A1M is part of the A1 that becomes a motorway and so takes on it's rules and restrictions. Quay is pronounced Key. National speed limit can vary depending on the road. basically it means the max allowable speed limit for that type of road applies.
So, first off you did incredibly well on some of your guesses. You should know however (as in I'm trying to give you some useful info) that the pass rate for the UK theory test is currently around 35%. Yeah, more than HALF of people fail their tests. This is often due to the Hazard Perception portion and tricky to answer questions designed to catch you out,
It helps a little to consider that the UK is still laid out on Medieval or even Roman road networks. So their layouts and designs contain a lot more hazards. Travelling through the hills and tight rural areas of Wales for example you can easily get two or often more really tight bends in the road in very close succession. Again remember our road layouts are OLD so they went around obstacles rather than through them.
As to the M, A, and B roads they are all catergories of roads. M is our equivelent of interstate highways, or as we know them, Motorways. They carry very high capacity at the highest speeds allowable on uk roads (generally), A roads usually tend to be dual carriageways where the two directions of travel are separated by a central 'verge' or barrier...though not all A roads are dual carriageways. Again relatively high flow traffic at higher speeds. B roads generally less important and less frequently travelled routes...although again it can kind of depend. Again the reason you can sometimes see things like A1(M) is because our network is real old. The M1 was once called the Great North Road and most of it was eventually converted into a motorway so most of it became an M (motorway). However, some areas simply couldn't be widened or made big enough to be a motorway so we get this weird A1(M) thing.
No waiting tends to appear on high traffic roads where any vehicle waiting or stopping could be considered a danger. Thing of your average town street where you might pull up your car and wait for your passenger to pop into a shop for a bottle of water, you're still at the wheel of your car, you are waiting. On a high traffic road this would present a danger to other motorists and as such is something you shouldn't do.
Minimum speed is a think, it's relatively rare but is again about safety. And believe it or not even on a road where there is no listed or signposted minimum speed you can get fined for driving too slowly on some roads.
I could be wrong, but the cross roads symbol has a pointed tip to ensure it can't be misread as a Christian symbol, which is especially important given that most of these signs are international.
Humps on the road you're talking about what we know as sleeping policemen or 'Speed Bumps', a traffic claming measure designed to ensure people stick to low speeds. Generally found in built up areas.
The patrol when it comes to school crossings is what we know as Lollipop people, I believe the US has 'Crossing Guards'. Our lollipop people tend to carry a little sign instructing motorists to stop. So that they can escort school children across the road safely.
You asked too if the signs sometimes appeared as text only....this is the least likely and very rare. You are more likely to see a circular or triangular sign without the additional text. The theory here is that they should be able to be understood by a speaker of any language as long as you understand the basic principles, which you began to with the remembering the triangle is a warning about something inside it.
Verges tend to appear on the edge of a carriageway or road. So basically the terrain at the edge of the road is not firm. It could be soil, sand, loose pebbles or gravel, anything of that nature that could cause you trouble when pulling off to the side of the road (in an emergency for example).
Quayside, is a boat Quay (pronounced KEY). So you're thinking Florida Keys here. In the UK and most other English speaking countries we key the two terms spelt differently to minimise comprehension mistakes. In otherwords we didn't want the terms Key and Quay being mixed up when written. Just a weird quirk of the English Language is all.
Unmade or gravel roads do happen in the UK and so it's just a case of having a sign to warn of that. They're especially common around hill or mountainside areas, places where there has been quarry activity, or just where the road isn't tarmac (or ashphalt).
Yeah national speed limit is complicated to say the least, but it depends on the type of vehicle you're in, the type of road you are on, and so much more.
The diversion route signs have a logic behind them...the idea is that if large scale roadworks are happening and would cut off access to several roads, those roads would each be assigned a symbol so that you can follow the diversion signs for that route. Think about a large road with several side roads on it. Each of the side roads are blocked by road works. Each road would have a different diversion symbol attached, so to get past those road works you follow a diversion route by following the sybmol. That's the theory...not always in use practically though.
There a lot to it, but you did amazingly to get as much as you did, and to be honest a lot of it is just that our road network is old, frail, and follows routes humans have been walking for centuries.
For a Really interesting video on the reason that US has different roadsigns, see the Wendover video: ruclips.net/video/Wzr0GYfRsKI/видео.html
You are wrong about the point at the top of the junction signs and has nothing to do with religion. The point shows direction of travel. If you look at a bend in the road sign it too has a point. The crossing sign with priority over traffic on the right has the right side road thinner than the left and thicker on the right showing the priority. Where I live no A roads are divided by a verge or dual carriageways, they are all single carriageways but I do live in rural Scotland!! Crazy how the network differs in such a small country!
@@westhighlandwarrior6998 So, I genuinely understood that to be the case from ages ago when I was learning I remember an instructor saying something along those lines. As to the A roads thing, yeah a lot of A roads in England and Wales aren't dual carriageway either, but I couldn't think of a better way to give a generalisation of the difference between A and B roads that would work to someone unfamiliar with our road network. Correct me if I'm wrong but the NC500 is mainly A roads isn't it? And they're single carriageways?
@@MartinNelson No, nothing whatsoever to do with religion. The thicker line with the point actually denotes the main road, generally the one that would have the right of way at crossroads or the "through route" (you would have to stop of give way on the road with the thinner line. Often the thicker line would be the A road and the thinner one a B road but that's not always the case, they could be 2 A roads or 2 B roads.
Yes, lots of A roads can be single track roads (including the NC500 in parts) and a B road could be a dual carriageway!
The difference is that an A road generally denotes the main route between two points, e.g. 2 towns. B roads are usually link roads, for example linking two A roads. Of course there are so many now that it's all a bot of a jumble, but that's the main difference.
Small correction the A1 (M) is part of the A1 not the M1. While the M1 does merge with the A1 and and then is the A1 (M), it starts being the A1 (M) before then and there a bit of the A1 around Peterbrough that just becomes the A1 (M) for a bit and then goes back to the A1. I believe the "(M)" exists so that motorway restrictions can be applied to historically non motorway roads
Hump bridges are usually encountered in our country roads, they are usually older bridges over a stream. The rise and fall quickly so if you go over one faster than 25 mph, you'll likely leave the ground for a moment, which is obviously dangerous, particularly if there's a bend after it.
The sign for 'double bend in the road' is a warning that you have a sharp left and a sharp right turn ahead. Usually you would need to slow down considerably to pass this part of the road safely. If you want to see what a zebra crossing is just look up the album cover of 'Abbey Road' by The Beatles. It literally shows the band crossing one of these despite Ringo somehow losing his shoes (drummers - go figure). A ring road is a road system that goes around something like a town or city like a bypass but you could literally use it to drive in a loop if you wanted. This allows motorists to either go past a built up area without being caught in 'town traffic' or enter a town/city from any direction despite whatever direction they happened to be traveling from.
The national speed limit changes depending on the road and what vehicle you are driving (lorrys and vehicles that are towing have a lower maximum speed limit than other vehicles). If you have two or more lanes in each direction the national speed limit is 70 mph. If you only have one lane in each direction it is 60 mph. Also, whenever you can't see a speed limit sign every so often the speed limit is 30 mph. You can only go at the 'national speed limit' when indicated by the signs featuring a white circle with the black diagonal stripe across it as that is the national maximum speed you can ever go, not the speed you can go by default.
The driving theory test is extensive in the UK but it gets even more involved in some other European countries. Apart from remembering signs and performing well while driving the car there are both a sit down theory test which includes things like first aid knowledge as well as a 'hazard perception' test (taken on computer) which tests your ability to spot possible developing hazards either on the road or approaching your route. The good news is that once you have the hang of UK signs you will be okay understanding the road signs in any country which signed up to the 'Vienna convention on road signs and signals' which includes a good majority of the worlds landmass.
- 'Sign not in use', is attached to a fixed electronic sign indicating that it is temporarily non-operational, either because it is in the process of being set up, because it is faulty or because the road is undergoing repairs and there are temporary rules have been temporarily changed.
- Quayside (pronounced keyside): side of a quay (a wharf or loading bay beside the sea, a river or a lake). The road adjoins it directly. Danger of falling in.
- Zebra crossing. A pedestrian crossing marked by alternating black and white stripes across the road (like a zebra's back)
- Humps: speed humps across road to slow down traffic or encourage it to take another route - also known as 'sleeping policemen'
- Double bend: two bends (curves) in the road ahead, one after the other, first to the left and then to the right (or vice versa). British roads are often very bendy. The bends can be sharp.
- Loose chippings: where the road has been recently resurfaced and the stone chippings (gravel) used to surface it have not yet bedded down into the tarmac base and may be loose.
- School crossing patrol: warning of a children's crossing near a school, 'patrolled' by a 'lollipop lady or man'. The lollipop lady has a circular school crossing sign on a stick (like a lollipop - US popsicle) and when safe to do so will step out into the road to stop traffic and usher children safely across. In the UK the more vulnerable you are as a road user, the greater your legal right of way. Pedestrians are the most vulnerable and so have right of way over cars and other vehicles. That's why jaywalking is not a thing here. Pedestrians can cross A and B roads anywhere they like so long as they do so in a manner not likely to cause an accident. Pedestrian crossings, similarly, are for advice only. You are not obliged to obey them. Children are taught from an early age how to cross roads safely.
- National speed limit. The national speed limit for cars is 60 miles per hour on non-motorway roads, and 70 mph on motorways. Different speed limits apply for different kinds of vehicle, so what the national limit actually is depends on what you are driving. As you guessed, this sign means there are no local restrictions on this road (like 30mph in a build up area) and the national speed limit applies, whatever that is for your vehicle.
- A ring road is a road which runs in a circle around a city or town. These are very common.
- Brown signs give tourist information.
- 'With flow': a lane with vehicles going in the same direction as adjoining lanes.
- Emergency diversion route. The symbols on the yellow signs don't mean anything in themselves. If there is a diversion, you will be advised to follow signs with one of the given shapes. If two diversions cross they will be marked by signs of different shapes so you don't confuse them and end up going the wrong way.
- We don't have 'highways'. We have motorways each designated by an M followed by its number. Other major roads arfe designated with an A prefix, and minor roads are designated with a B. Generally speaking the more numbers in a road name, the more minor it is. So the A7 is a more major road than the A75 for instance. The B6040 is likely to be very narrow and twisty. Sometimes you see signs like A5(M). This means that the the part of the A5 you are travelling on has been upgraded to motorway status, and motorway rules apply for this section.
- At junctions you will sometimes see roads indicated like this: A5 (A306). This means that the turn off indicated is the A5. If you want the A306 you should turn off here onto the A5, because the A306 will turn off the A5 a little further along.
Pronounced "root"
As in "root" 66 in the US.
Good point!
I remember when i did my motorcycle theory a few years back, some of the questions were about trams and first aid to drivers in accidents.
So it's not all about just signs.
Not well known rule on a UK motorway is your vehicle must be able to move @ 20 mph as the minimum and recently there is more changes when encountering "smart Motorway's which a uprated 4 NOT 3 lane motorway .
And I'm predicting that the many Rules boards side at the entrance to motorway slip entry road may be amended to explain the Smart motorways rules
Have to keep on top of the rule and any changes
for instance Just today I have seen a rumour circulating about Motorcycle license Group changes I have a Full class A motorcycle license which is the Very top rank Its at the at the other end that the DVLA are proposing changes
The yellow signs are for fixed diversions where there are usually lots of road blockages over a long period of time. There will be an accompaning (sp) sign telling you which shape to follow to get to your chosen destination where the usual route may be blocked.
Zebra crossings are parts of a road where drivers legally have to give pedestrians the right of way to cross. Usually zebra crossings are paired with a flashing amber light, you'll know what one looks like because the crossings are marked with white painted stripes which would essentially look like zebra stripes because of the road being black