- Highway driver location signs explained
- Blue rectangular signs found on every major highway in the UK
- They tell you precisely where you are on any given road
- Crucial you're able to relay that information to emergency services
(Select Car Leasing)
Understanding this little-known UK motorway sign could save your life in an emergency - but too few drivers know how to read them.
Since being introduced back in 2003, motorways and major A roads in England have displayed ‘driver location signs’.
They’re found at intervals of 500 metres and they’re blue, rectangular in shape and display a series of numbers and letters.
They carry crucial information about your precise location on the highway - and it’s information you need to give to the emergency services in the event of an accident, breakdown or other incident, so that patrols can reach you as quickly as possible.
With 1 in 14 of all deaths on motorways occurring on hard shoulders - and with 79 people killed on smart motorways between 2010 and 2024 - understanding how to read driver location signs could be the difference between life and death.
(Adobe Stock)
That’s according to Graham Conway, Managing Director at Select Car Leasing, who is urging UK motorists to get familiar with how driver location signs work.
He said: “The problem with motorways and major A roads is that they’re visually monotonous, with one mile looking exactly the same as the next.
“If you suffer an accident, breakdown or other emergency, you need to call the emergency services or recovery company.
“But unless you know precisely where you are, you make life harder for the people tasked with helping you - and getting you out of harm’s way.
“It might sound overly dramatic, but understanding how to recognise and read driver location signs could very well save you from serious injury - or worse - in the event of an emergency. It’s concerning that many motorists don’t even know what they are.”
(Select Car Leasing)
Driver location signs display three main pieces of information; the road identifier, the carriageway identifier, and the location
The road identifier is the name of the road - ie, the M62 or M25.
The carriageway identifier is a letter - either A, B, J, K, L or M - which indicates your direction of travel on that particular motorway or A road, or whether you’ve stopped on a slip road.
The location data is the bottom line of info and tells you how far away you are from a given location - typically the start or the end of the road itself.
Select Car Leasing adds: “Remember that you’ll see a driver location sign at the side of the highway every 500 metres. When you’re travelling at motorway speeds, it means you should spot one every 15 seconds or so.
“Keep your eyes peeled for them in the event of an incident, and particularly if you can sense an imminent breakdown or problem.”
(Adobe Stock)
National Highways says that if your vehicle develops a problem, or if you see a red or amber warning light on your dashboard, you should leave the carriageway at the next exit or pull into a service area if possible.
Do not stop in a live lane unless absolutely necessary.
If you can’t make it to the nearest exit or service station, you should go left immediately - pulling into an emergency area on a smart motorway or onto the hard shoulder if you can.
Stop as far to the left as possible, turn on your hazard lights and sidelights if it’s dark or visibility is poor, and exit your vehicle on the side furthest from the traffic.
(Adobe Stock)
Wear high-vis clothing, get behind a barrier if there is one, and don’t stand in a place where your vehicle could hit you if moving traffic collides with it. National Highways says you shouldn’t attempt to make a repair on your vehicle.
Once you’re stopped and safe, call for help. Call national highways from a mobile on 0300 123 5000 to obtain advice and assistance - and have your driver location information ready. Or you may have been lucky enough to stop next to an emergency telephone.
If you haven’t been able to exit your vehicle, or if you’ve not stopped near a free emergency telephone, call 999 immediately and ask for the police.
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