People are convinced that '99% of drivers' don't actually know what this road sign means despite it being very common

Statistically, most drivers in the UK today probably got their license years ago or, at best, months ago.

And even if they got it recently – let’s face it – there’s a strong chance they simply memorized whatever they had to do to get their license without paying much ‘genuine’ attention.

We’re saying this because, apparently, 99 per cent of people have no clue what this particular road sign means.

It might be surprising, but that’s not the only road sign drivers can’t recognize.

Drivers don’t seem to know what this sign means

The sign is a circular one, with a white backdrop and a single black stripe diagonally through the middle at a 45-degree angle.

An image of the sign was posted in the drivingUK SubReddit on Reddit a few years ago with the caption that read: “I’m convinced 99% of drivers don’t know what this sign means.”

Reddit being Reddit, no one wanted to say something like: “yeah, you’re right I don’t know.”

And so a lot of people – either because they already knew or because they looked it up – provided the correct answer.

However, many shared anecdotes about it that seem to support this view.

“One of the girls at my old hairdressers genuinely thought it meant ‘go whatever speed you want’,” one of the Redditors wrote.

“There’s a terrifying amount of people that clearly think this is true [that it means no speed limit, ed.]. I have a new commute to work and everyday without fail I have someone directly up my a**e in the 30 and then they’re just a dot in the distance once we hit national speed. For full clarity I am in a piece of s**t Ford fiesta with about half a horse under the bonnet,” a second user agreed.

Others resorted to irony.

“National speed limit, but what that limit is depends on what you’re driving. For example if you’re driving a BMW it’s 100mph and excuses you from using indicators,” another Redditor said.

Here’s what the sign actually means

A white circular UK road sign with a single black diagonal stripe simply means that the national speed limit applies on that stretch of road.

That’s 30 mph in built-up areas, 60 mph on single carriageways, and 70 mph on dual carriageways.

Unlike some other UK road signs, this one is quite common, too.

And yet, as the Reddit thread showed, there seem to be many people who have no idea what it actually means.

I’m convinced 99% of drivers don’t know what this sign means.
by in drivingUK

Then again, numbers don’t lie.

The ’99 per cent’ thing might be an exaggeration, but there are studies that confirm the principle.

A survey by Uswitch found that 44 per cent of UK drivers have forgotten the meaning of common road signs after passing their test.

And there are more equivalent surveys.

Research from Kwik Fit indicated that the average driver knows only 79 per cent of UK road sign meanings, which seems acceptable, but another study found that one in two drivers admitted to sometimes reading road signs improperly or ignoring speed limits.

Furthermore, over 60 per cent of drivers failed to recognize or correctly name basic safety signs like ‘No Entry’ in standalone knowledge quizzes, and over 70 per cent of drivers failed to identify niche signs, such as emergency diversion routes or specific bus and cycle lane restrictions.

And that’s the UK, a country where drivers are generally well-mannered, and accident rates are relatively low compared to global data.

We can only imagine what results those same studies would produce in countries where drivers are a bit more… how can we put it? Flamboyant.