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Highway Code

Highway Code, Vehicle markings

Vehicle markings. Advisory guidance you are expected to follow.

  • Vehicle markings
  • Advisory rule
  • OGL v3.0

What the rule says

Advisory

Download ‘Vehicle markings’ (PDF, 537KB)

Large goods vehicle rear markings

Motor vehicles over 7500 kilograms maximum gross weight and trailers over 3500 kilograms maximum gross weight Left - Central - Right The vertical markings are also required to be fitted to builders’ skips placed in the road, commercial vehicles or combinations longer than 13 metres (optional on combinations between 11 and 13 metres)

Hazard warning plates

Certain tank vehicles carrying dangerous goods must display hazard information panels The panel illustrated is for flammable liquid. Diamond symbols indicating other risks include: The above panel will be displayed by vehicles carrying certain dangerous goods in packages Toxic substance Oxidizing substance Non-flammable compressed gas Radioactive substance Spontaneously combustible substance Corrosive substance

Projections markers

Side marker End marker Both required when load or equipment (eg crane jib) overhangs front or rear by more than two metres

Other

School bus (displayed in front or rear window of bus or coach)

Rule text reproduced verbatim from the official Highway Code (Crown copyright) under the Open Government Licence v3.0, see the attribution at the foot of this page.

In plain English

Stripped of the formal wording, this guidance comes down to one idea: download ‘Vehicle markings’ (PDF, 537KB) Motor vehicles over 7500 kilograms maximum gross weight and trailers over 3500 kilograms maximum gross weight Left - Central - Right The vertical markings are… It is advice rather than law, but examiners and the courts still treat it as the expected standard of safe driving.

It belongs to the vehicle markings part of the Code, the habits a confident, considerate driver builds until they are automatic. The aim is not to memorise the sentence word for word, but to understand the hazard it protects you from, so you apply it without having to think when it counts.

If you are learning, treat this rule as one piece of a connected set rather than an isolated fact. The related rules below sit in the same section and reinforce each other, reading them together is how the vehicle markings part of the Code starts to feel like common sense rather than a list to revise.

Because this is advisory rather than legal, no one will fine you for the rule alone, but ignoring it can still count against you in a careless-driving case, and it will cost you faults on the test. Either way, the safe move is to build the habit early, while a driving instructor can correct it, rather than relearning it under test pressure. That is exactly what the practice routes and coaching in the DriveRoutes app are designed to help with, turning the rules below into the way you naturally drive.

Why this rule matters on the road

Signs, signals and markings are the shared language of the road. Reading them accurately and signalling clearly is how drivers coordinate without ever speaking, miss the message and the coordination breaks down.

Common faults examiners record

In the vehicle markings part of the Code, the faults most often written on the marking sheet tend to be the same handful. Knowing them in advance is the quickest way to drive them out of your own habits:

  • Signalling too late, too early, or when no signal is needed.
  • Missing a sign or road marking and acting on the wrong information.
  • Failing to cancel a signal after a manoeuvre.

On the day

Imagine a sign appearing on the approach to a junction. Applying Highway Code, Vehicle markings means reading it early, acting on it in good time, lane, speed, signal, and cancelling any signal once the manoeuvre is complete. The examiner notes whether you respond to the information or miss it.

Quick checklist

  • Read signs and markings early and act in good time.
  • Signal clearly, only when it helps someone.
  • Cancel the signal once the manoeuvre is done.

Highway Code, Vehicle markings, your questions

Download ‘Vehicle markings’ (PDF, 537KB) Motor vehicles over 7500 kilograms maximum gross weight and trailers over 3500 kilograms maximum gross weight Left - Central - Right The vertical markings are… It is advisory guidance rather than law, but you are still expected to follow it and an examiner can mark a fault if you do not.

DriveRoutes is an independent study aid and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA).