Do you know what all the road markings mean?

OK, I’m going to assume that you know what the ‘Stop’ and ‘Give Way’ lines mean and the lines that separate the traffic on a road. But how many different types of lines are in the middle of the road?

• One
• Two
• Three
• Four
• Five
• More than five

I bet that’s got you thinking! There are the Centre lines, that divide the traffic. Hazard Warning lines, that warn of a fixed hazard such as a bend, junction, or a brow of a hill. Solid white lines that mean No Overtaking – or do they? Check the Highway Code for what they actually mean. Hatched areas that are sometimes marked with a broken white lines and other times with a solid white lines – if you don’t know the difference again you need to read the Highway Code.

So, did you get them all right, or is it safe to say that your knowledge of road markings isn’t quite as good as you thought? Now, we don’t have time to test you on every other aspect of the Highway Code in this article, but I can tell you now that in E-Training World’s ‘knowledge’ section of our driver risk assessment, this is where most drivers struggle.

Ok, you may argue that you drive every day and haven’t had an accident, and so do you really need to know the detail of the latest road laws, signs and markings.?

Let’s look at it differently. If you were about to board a plane to go on holiday would you be happy if you knew the pilot hadn’t kept up to date since he/she obtained their pilot’s licence 30 years ago? Would you feel safe?

Now look at the image and answer the question. What happens to the white line along the edge of the road when there is an entrance to a farmer’s field or building?

The answer is it will become a broken white line.