On a road resurfaced within the last few days, you see a triangular warning sign showing loose stone chips scattering symbol, together with a rectangular plate reading 'LOOSE CHIPPINGS' and a separate advisory speed plate showing '20'. There is no mandatory circular speed-limit sign present. Compared with the general slippery-road symbol sign, what should you specifically do differently here, and what is the legal status of the '20' figure?
- Ignore the advisory speed plate entirely, since only signs mounted on a mandatory circular background can ever affect how you should drive at a hazard
- Treat the '20' exactly as a legally binding maximum speed limit, enforceable in the same way as a red circular speed-limit sign, because the plate is displayed at a hazard
- Keep well back from the vehicle in front to avoid stone chips being thrown up and damaging your windscreen or paintwork, and treat the '20' as strong advisory guidance rather than a legally binding limit, since it is not shown on a red circular sign
- Increase your following distance only if you are driving a motorcycle, since loose chippings are described as being of no relevance to a car's grip or paintwork
Why C? And why not the others?
Correct answer: C. Keep well back from the vehicle in front to avoid stone chips being thrown up and damaging your windscreen or paintwork, and treat the '20' as strong advisory guidance rather than a legally binding limit, since it is not shown on a red circular sign
A recently resurfaced road can leave loose stone chippings on the surface, and beyond the general reduced-grip caution that applies to any slippery-road warning, the specific extra risk is that a vehicle's tyres can throw loose stones backward, so keeping well back from the vehicle in front protects your windscreen and paintwork as well as helping with the reduced grip itself; because the advisory figure is shown on a rectangular plate rather than on a red circular sign, it is strong guidance rather than a legally enforceable maximum. The option treating the '20' as legally binding in the same way as a circular speed-limit sign confuses an advisory plate, used because road workers judge a safe speed for the specific hazard, with a mandatory regulatory sign, which loose-chippings advisory plates are not. The option dismissing the advisory plate entirely because it is not on a circular background ignores that sensible, safe driving means following clear advisory guidance even where it is not separately enforceable as a specific offence tied to that number. The option limiting the extra following-distance caution to motorcycles invents a vehicle-specific exemption; thrown-up chippings can damage or chip the paintwork and windscreen of a car just as much as affect the balance of a motorcycle, so the caution applies to any vehicle.
Source: GOV.UK, The Highway Code — Traffic signs (warning signs, loose chippings) and Rule 288 (road works)