Confusing black and white road sign has drivers | Tech News

A considerable road sign resembling one thing from a Formula One circuit somewhat than a British A-road is baffling motorists who say they “have no idea what it means”. The sign options a black and white chequered design, the kind generally related to motorsport. While it will not be one you encounter commonly during journeys, quite a few drivers have seen it roadside and turned to social media to find its goal.

One bike owner posted on the Cycling UK Forum: “I thought I was fairly knowledgeable on road signs. However, I was completely foxed by a sign I saw yesterday at a crossroads…. essentially it’s a huge black and white checkerboard about 10ft x 10ft. There is one on each side of the junction, placed so that when waiting to cross the A30 on the minor road, the sign is right in front of you on the other side.

“Are they there to remind road customers that it is a barely staggered junction? Some type of experiment? Or perhaps one thing to do with the close by Army Air Corps flight faculty at Middle Wallop? If anybody is aware of what these are for, I’d be very grateful!”

One location where the sign appears is on the B3084 road as it intersects the A30 between Salisbury and Winchester. Another motorist on Reddit enquired: “I handed this bizarre road sign. No concept what it means. It might be army. Anyone on the market know what it is for?” The sign also appears on the B4455 road not far from Stratford-upon-Avon, as well as on the B4027 just outside Oxford, where one user commented: “A pair of miles from the place I reside, by no means identified what it’s for.”

Other motorists appeared equally baffled. One remarked: “Twenty-two years of driving, two concept checks (car and bike), pushed the size and breadth of the UK and can actually say I’ve by no means seen this earlier than.”

Another added: “Genuinely I do not suppose I ever got here throughout this sign when studying the Highway Code for my check a few months back! Seems fairly obscure.”

The sign does not feature anywhere in the 172-page Know Your Traffic Signs guide published by the UK Government, nor does it appear in a Highway Code guide to road signs. Nevertheless, social media users have suggested the sign serves as an additional warning of a hazard, typically positioned where the presence of a junction requires further highlighting — for instance, where a minor road crossing at a crossroads may be difficult to spot. For this reason, most tend to be situated near Give Way signs.

A recurring theme amongst responses is that these signs tend to crop up along stretches of road where accidents have historically been a frequent occurrence, reports Wales Online . One user explained: “As others have recommended, I’m fairly sure they’re long-range hazard warning indicators, significantly meant for night time time use. These are common on stretches of The Fosse Way, a Roman road which is due to this fact arrow straight for long stretches. They seem at junctions the place drivers should give means, or the place junctions are staggered, and are usually mounted for very long vary night time time visibility.”

Another commented: “It’s positioned on the alternative website of a minor arm at crossroads to alert drivers that they need to provide means. Sometimes they’re positioned to screen the road forward so drivers on the minor arm do not carry straight by way of the junction.”

A third user added: “It’s for night time driving. When driving down that road it illuminates to principally say ‘Hey, sluggish down, the road ends’ so they do not fly over it and into the home as it’s on an unlit road. It’s like these < or > indicating a flip within the road besides this time it merely acts as an advisory.”