On a shaded bend where the road surface looks polished and slightly greasy even though it is not frosty and no 'ICE' text plate is fitted, you see a triangular sign with a red border showing a car symbol with wavy skid marks trailing from its rear wheels. How does what this sign warns about differ from the ICE-plated sign covered elsewhere, and how should it affect your driving?
- It warns specifically and only of black ice in freezing conditions, so it can be ignored in mild, dry weather exactly like an ICE-plated sign would be
- It warns of a road surface that can reduce tyre grip year-round, from causes such as a polished surface, mud, oil, or standing water, not only from frost, so you should reduce speed in good time and avoid harsh braking or steering on the bend
- It is a supplementary sign that only ever appears beneath the ICE-plated sign and never as a standalone warning
- It warns that the road surface has been recently gritted and is therefore safer than a normal bend in wet weather
Why B? And why not the others?
Correct answer: B. It warns of a road surface that can reduce tyre grip year-round, from causes such as a polished surface, mud, oil, or standing water, not only from frost, so you should reduce speed in good time and avoid harsh braking or steering on the bend
The car-with-skid-marks symbol is the general 'slippery road' warning, a standalone triangle used wherever the surface itself can reduce grip for reasons that are not limited to frost, such as a smooth or polished surface, mud tracked onto the road, spilt oil, or standing water, so it appears year-round rather than only in cold weather. Because the hazard is reduced grip rather than a specific weather condition, the correct response is to slow down in good time and avoid harsh braking or sudden steering while on the affected stretch, since either could break traction. The option restricting the meaning to black ice in freezing conditions describes the separate ICE-text-plated sign, not this pictorial skid symbol, and wrongly implies the warning can be dismissed in mild weather when the underlying surface hazard has nothing to do with temperature. The option claiming this sign only ever appears as a supplement beneath the ICE-plated sign invents a dependency that does not exist; it is a fully standalone warning sign in its own right. The option suggesting the surface has been gritted and is therefore safer inverts the sign's purpose, which is to warn of reduced grip, not to reassure the driver that grip has been improved.
Source: GOV.UK, The Highway Code — Traffic signs (slippery road warning sign) and Rule 231 (driving in adverse weather conditions)