Tom Wood
If you think you know everything there is to know about the rules of the road, how about checking out this road sign and seeing if you can tell what it is.
There’s a huge number of road signs that bombard us at every single turn while we’re driving.
Most of them are completely self-explanatory and easily recognisable, but others are incredibly specific and often not that commonly spotted, meaning that a load of motorists won’t have any clue what they actually are.
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We can all spot a roundabout sign, or the national speed limit sign, can’t we?
However, would you know what some of the more obscure ones mean?
This one – for example – is a sign that you won’t see that often, and might never have seen even once during your lifetime behind the wheel.
But, it’s out there, and it has a very specific meaning – can you figure out what it is?
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Yes, it is to tell you what speed you need to be going, that’s a start.
However, instead of being a warning that it is illegal to go over a certain speed, this sign is telling you that it is illegal to travel at under a certain speed.
It’s a minimum speed limit sign.
You might be wondering why you’d need one of those, given that the usual tendency – for better or worse – amongst motorists is to drive at or over the speed limit.
Well, these signs exist in places where there are specific reasons for which driving under a set speed might be dangerous or cause congestion.
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For example, tunnels.
The rules of the minimum speed limit are explained on driving instruction website PassMeFast, where it states: “There are not, currently, many such restrictions in place; roads that do limit MPH—such as the Mersey Tunnel—can be identified by a sign.
“Similar to maximum speed limit signs, in that they are circular and contain a number, they can be differentiated by colour.
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“Instead of the vibrant ‘red’ that we are more used to seeing (signifying prohibition) minimum speed limit signs sport a rim of blue.
“Blue signs are an indication of a mandatory instruction—in this case, ‘You must drive faster than this specific number in miles per hour’.”
Then, once you’ve reached the end, you’ll see the same sign with a red line through it to indicate that the minimum speed limit no longer applies.
If you fall foul of these signs, it’s much the same as if you break the speed limit by being over – points and a fine.
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You might be able to go on a speed awareness course if you’re eligible, but you’ll probably be the only one there for going too slow.
There are ways in which you could argue that you have no choice, of course.
If you were impeded, stuck in traffic, or there were other extenuating circumstances, you could make a case for going under the limit.
Braking for a hazard should be OK, too.
