These road signs could be ditched from UK streets – but do you know what they all mean?
THOUSANDS of road signs around the country are facing the axe after they were labelled "humiliating" by the Department of Transport.
A report by the Government agency called for a number of traffic signs to be ditched after it found the overuse of signage in the UK was "verging on national humiliation" - but how many do you know?
Test your knowledge of the road signs pictured and see how many you can guess correctly before they are removed from our roads forever - you'll find the answers in the box below.
Acquired by as part of a Freedom of Information request, the 2017 report found that there were as many as 4.3million road signs on British motorways, which had been installed in the thinking that more signs would mean fewer accidents.
The DfT has now called for whole categories of signs to be scrapped entirely.
Those likely to face the chopping block include notices for clearways and the end of motorway regulations, as well as a host of warning signs for traffic lights, junctions, speed camera and roundabouts.
British road signs that could be scrapped: the answers
- Speed camera warning
- Crossroads ahead - a number of junction warning signs could be removed
- End of motorway regulations
- Traffic light warning
- Roundabout warning
- No stopping (clearway)
According to the report, the UK had just 2.6million signs on roadsides in 1993, indicating that the number has almost doubled in the last 25 years.
This increase was initially attributed to the idea that adding road signs could increase road safety and reduce instances of drivers breaking the law.
But the report claimed that it could actually have a "detrimental impact on road safety", as drivers were being distracted by an "information overload".
A PUZZLING SIGN Are you more street-wise than the average UK driver? How many of these 15 road signs can YOU identify?
Drivers are clearly struggling to take in all the signage, with as many as three-quarters of Brits admitting to not being able to identify what all of the signs in the Highway Code mean.
And when British drivers were asked to sketch what a number of road signs looked like off the top of their head, as many as 90 per cent struggled to get even the most basic symbols correct.
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A DfT spokesman said: “Nobody likes clutter, which is why we want to reduce the number of unnecessary traffic signs being used.
"Local councils are best placed to decide if they want to remove, replace or install new signs on their roads.
"We provide guidelines to help them make sure their signs are clear for road users.”