Driving In The United Kingdom
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Driving in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
is governed by various legal powers and in some cases is subject to the passing of a
driving test A driving test (also known as a driving exam, driver's test, or road test) is a procedure designed to test a person's ability to drive a motor vehicle. It exists in various forms worldwide, and is often a requirement to obtain a driver's lic ...
. The
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
produces a
Highway Code ''The Highway Code'' is a set of information, advice, guides and mandatory rules for road users in the United Kingdom. Its objective is to promote road safety. The ''Highway Code'' applies to all road users including pedestrians, horse riders ...
that details the requirements for all road users, including drivers. Unlike most other countries in the world, UK traffic drives on the left.


Speed limits

British roads are limited for most vehicles by the
National Speed Limit A speed limit is the limit of speed allowed by law for road vehicles, usually the maximum speed allowed. Occasionally, there is a minimum speed limit. Advisory speed limits also exist, which are recommended but not mandatory speeds. Speed limit ...
. Road signs in the UK use
imperial units The imperial system of units, imperial system or imperial units (also known as British Imperial or Exchequer Standards of 1826) is the system of units first defined in the British Weights and Measures Act 1824 and continued to be developed thro ...
, so speed limits are posted in miles per hour. Speed limits are the maximum speed at which certain drivers may legally drive on a road rather than a defined appropriate speed, and in some cases the nature of a road may dictate that one should drive significantly more slowly than the speed limit may allow. This restricts some to a default speed limit of 30 mph on lit roads, and some light vehicles to 60 mph on
single carriageway A single carriageway (British English) or Undivided highway (American English) is a road with one, two or more lanes arranged within a one carriageway with no central reservation to separate opposing flows of traffic. A single-track road has a s ...
s and 70 mph on
dual carriageways A dual carriageway ( BE) or divided highway ( AE) is a class of highway with carriageways for traffic travelling in opposite directions separated by a central reservation (BrE) or median (AmE). Roads with two or more carriageways which are ...
and
motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...
s, with some large vehicles or some of those towing trailers subject to reduced limits on some roads depending on the class of both road and vehicle. Sections of road subject to the national or in-town speed limit only require limit marker signs at the start of a section, without repeaters, provided street lights are or are not present as appropriate. Lower Speed limits of 20 mph, 30 mph, 40 mph, 50 mph and 60 mph can also used on roads in the UK where it is deemed that the national or 30 mph urban speed limit is inappropriate, with repeater signs posted at regular intervals.


Lane discipline

Drivers on multilane roads are legally required to use the left-most lane unless overtaking other vehicles on the road, unless signs or road markings indicate that the left-most lane(s) is only for traffic leaving at the next junction. Drivers who wish to overtake a slower vehicle are thus expected to move out from their lane (having used the indicator lights to warn other road-users of their intention to do so), pass the slower vehicle and return to the left-most lane. This enables faster traffic to overtake unhindered if it wishes to do so. On the UK's busiest roads, where there may be four or more lanes in each direction, there is often a situation where overtaking becomes continual as each successive lane moves at a slightly faster speed than that to its left. On some
motorways A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...
a lane is provided on the left hand side referred to as the '
hard shoulder A shoulder, hard shoulder (British) or breakdown lane, is an emergency stopping lane by the verge of a road or motorway, on the right side in countries which drive on the right, and on the left side in countries which drive on the left. Many wid ...
', which should only be used when a vehicle has broken down. It is illegal to drive in this lane unless indicated otherwise, for example Dynamic Hard Shoulder Running (DHSR)
Smart Motorways A smart motorway (formerly managed motorway and active traffic management), also known in Scotland as an intelligent transport system, is a section of motorway in the United Kingdom (primarily in England) that employs active traffic managemen ...
allow motorists to use the hard shoulder at peak times. The action of undertaking, where the driver moves to the left of a slower moving vehicle to get past it is, although not illegal, discouraged on motorways under
Highway Code ''The Highway Code'' is a set of information, advice, guides and mandatory rules for road users in the United Kingdom. Its objective is to promote road safety. The ''Highway Code'' applies to all road users including pedestrians, horse riders ...
268. This rule allows for undertaking to occur in conditions that cause the left-hand lane to move faster than the right-hand lane and for traffic to keep up with the flow of the lane.


Pedestrian crossings

There are two broad categories of pedestrian crossing to aid the safe passage across major roads by those travelling on foot. There are no laws against
jaywalking Jaywalking is the act of pedestrians walking in or crossing a roadway that has traffic, other than at a designated crossing point, or otherwise, in disregard of traffic rules. The term originated in the United States as a derivation of the phras ...
in the UK. *Traffic Light Controlled Crossings: Traffic is controlled by traffic light signals. *Uncontrolled Crossings: Zebra and Parallel crossings give Pedestrians & cyclists in addition at Parallel crossings priority over traffic. These are marked using Black and white stripes are painted on the road and flashing amber
Belisha beacon A Belisha beacon is an amber-coloured globe lamp atop a tall black and white striped pole, marking pedestrian crossings of roads in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and in other countries historically influenced by Britain such as Hong Kong, Malta ...
s are on each side of the road. Drivers must give way to pedestrians & cyclists on the crossing.


Driving licence

Driving licences may be obtained by any UK resident over the age of 17, subject to certain conditions. Initially, a provisional licence is issued, which restricts the holder to driving whilst accompanied by a driver who is at least 21 years old, who has held a full licence in the category of vehicle they are supervising the learner driver in for at least three years, and does not allow the provisional licence holder to drive on
motorways A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...
. The provisional licence may be exchanged for a full licence after the holder has passed the practical driving test. Upon reaching the age of 70, drivers may apply to have their licences renewed with their doctors' permission. Many foreign driving licences permit one to drive in the UK, but must be exchanged for British licences after a year. Drivers from the USA, however, must take a British test if they wish to drive in the UK for more than a year after arriving in the country. This is because US driver licensing is carried out by individual states, but the
US Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven articles, it delineates the nation ...
does not permit individual states to enter bilateral treaties with other sovereign governments. However driving licences from the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
,
Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
,
Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarchy ...
and
Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
are valid in the United Kingdom.


Enforcement

Some of the rules of the road should be enforced by the police, others are enforced by council wardens.
Speed camera In everyday use and in kinematics, the speed (commonly referred to as ''v'') of an object is the magnitude of the change of its position over time or the magnitude of the change of its position per unit of time; it is thus a scalar quantity. ...
s are common. Red-light and bus lane cameras are also used. Motorists convicted of certain traffic, and certain non-traffic offences may have "points" added to their licences: some traffic offences such as exceeding the speed limit by a small amount, typically warrant three points, and motorists with twelve points face a driving ban, although this is six points for new drivers. Normally the points for a speeding offence, driving through a red light or in a bus lane will be punished with points from 3-6 whilst driving using a mobile phone is 6.


See also

*
Highway Code ''The Highway Code'' is a set of information, advice, guides and mandatory rules for road users in the United Kingdom. Its objective is to promote road safety. The ''Highway Code'' applies to all road users including pedestrians, horse riders ...
*
Motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...
s *
Roundabouts A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junction.''The New Shorter Oxford Eng ...
*
Driving Standards Agency The Driving Standards Agency (DSA) was an executive agency of the UK Department for Transport (DfT). DSA promoted road safety in Great Britain by improving driving and motorcycling standards. It set standards for education and training, as wel ...
*
European Driving Licence The European driving licence is a driving licence issued by the member states of the European Economic Area (EEA); all 27 EU member states and three EFTA member states; Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, which give shared features the various ...


References

{{United Kingdom roads Road transport in the United Kingdom