Signs giving orders

Signs that give orders can be

• mandatory signs: these tell you what you MUST do
• prohibitory signs: these tell you what you MUST NOT do.

Mandatory signs

These signs are mostly circular, with white symbols and borders on a blue background; for example

• mini-roundabout
• keep left
• turn left

In addition

• ‘stop – children’ sign (lollipop) carried by a school crossing patrol. This is circular with black lettering on a yellow background
• ‘stop’ in white on a red background, often manually controlled at roadworks
• ‘stop’ and ‘give way’ signs appear at junctions and are very important for everyone’s guidance and safety.

‘Stop’ signs

These are octagonal, with white lettering on a red background, and are usually found at a junction with a limited zone of vision. The design is deliberately unique so you can tell it apart from other signs. ‘Stop’ signs are always accompanied by a stop line marked on the road. The line tells you how far forward you should go before stopping to look, assess and decide whether it’s safe to proceed.

What you MUST do at ‘stop’ signs

• Stop (even if you can see the road is clear).
• Wait until you can enter the major road without causing other drivers to change speed or direction.

‘Give way’ signs

These are made up of

• a red triangle pointing downwards
• black lettering on a white background.

They’re always accompanied by road markings. However, some junctions only have the ‘give way’ lines. This is usually where there’s relatively little traffic.

‘Give way’ signs and/or road markings show you that traffic on the road you want to enter has priority.

The double broken lines across the road show you where to stop, if necessary, to take your final look.

What you MUST do at ‘give way’ signs

• Give way to traffic already on the major road.
• Wait until you can enter the major road without causing any traffic already on the road to change speed or direction.

The ‘give way’ sign is unique, being the only sign that’s a downwards-pointing triangle. This is to ensure that it can be recognised and obeyed, even if you can’t see it fully.

Prohibitory signs

These tell you what you MUST NOT do.

They’re easy to recognise by their circular shape and red border. The message is given by symbols, words or figures, or a combination of these. The exceptions are

• ‘no entry’ sign (circular with white border and red background)
• ‘bus lane’ sign.

Speed-limit signs

A red circle with a number on a white background shows the speed limit.

A white disc with a black diagonal line cancels the previous speed limit, but you mustn’t exceed the national speed limit for the type of road you’re on or the vehicle you’re driving. If you’re driving a light van of over 2 tonnes maximum laden weight, the national speed limit for goods vehicles of up to 7.5 tonnes maximum laden weight applies.

Repeater signs are a smaller form of the original speed-limit sign and are situated at intervals to remind you of the speed limit. In areas where there are regularly spaced street lights, you should assume that the 30 mph (48 km/h) speed limit normally applies, unless there are repeater signs showing a different speed limit.