Information and direction signs

Rectangles inform. They give information and directions, and the colour tells you the type of road: blue on motorways, green on primary routes and white on minor roads. Brown signs point to tourist attractions. Tap any sign below for the full detail, or take the road signs short test.

Information and direction signs do not tell you to do anything. They tell you where you are, where roads lead and what is available ahead, and they are mostly rectangles. The colour is the quickest clue to the kind of road: blue belongs to motorways, green to primary routes between towns, and white with a black border to ordinary local roads. Brown signs point to tourist attractions. Reading the colour before the words tells you what sort of road a junction will put you on before you have to commit to it.

The ones worth knowing for the test include the start and end of a motorway (where motorway rules begin and end), service-area signs, one-way and with-flow bus-lane signs, and parking information. It is easy to mix an information sign up with an order sign, so a rule of thumb helps: if it is a rectangle telling you something, it is information; if it is a circle telling you what you must or must not do, it is an order. A blue rectangle is information, while a blue circle is a compulsory instruction, and that single distinction clears up most of the confusion.

Direction and information signs appear throughout the theory test, usually checking whether you can read the road-type colour code and follow a route. On the road they rarely change what you must do, but reading them early keeps you in the correct lane and avoids the last-second lane changes that unsettle a test. Tap any sign above for the full detail, or run the road signs short test to check your recall.