At a junction you see three direction signs pointing to different destinations: one on a blue background, one on a green background, and one on a white background with black text. What do these differing background colours tell you about each destination?
- Blue leads to a motorway, green leads to a primary route (a major non-motorway A-road), and white leads to a local or non-primary route
- The colours indicate distance only — blue is furthest away, green is a medium distance, and white is nearest
- Blue means the route is closed ahead, green means it is open, and white is advisory only
- All three colours are purely decorative; only the destination name printed on the sign carries any meaning
Why A? And why not the others?
Correct answer: A. Blue leads to a motorway, green leads to a primary route (a major non-motorway A-road), and white leads to a local or non-primary route
UK direction signs use a standardised background colour code so a driver can judge the class of road ahead at a glance: blue indicates the destination is reached via a motorway, green indicates a primary route (a major A-road carrying long-distance traffic between primary destinations), and white with black text indicates a local or non-primary route. This is useful for planning, for example when towing or avoiding motorways. Distance is shown separately by the numbers printed on the sign, not by which background colour is used, so treating colour as a distance code is incorrect. The colours also have nothing to do with a route being open or closed; closures and diversions are communicated through separate warning signs and temporary signage, not by varying a direction sign's background colour. Calling the colours purely decorative is wrong as well, since they are a nationally regulated coding system under the traffic signs regulations, carrying real information about road classification rather than being an arbitrary design choice.
Source: The Highway Code: Traffic signs — direction signs on roads and motorways (GOV.UK), route colour coding