Driving instructor explains confusing road parking sign

Sometimes road markings and signs can appear more like riddles or puzzles than clear instructions. One set of markings and signs could land you with a fine if you misinterpret them.

Thankfully a driving instructor has decoded them. The road expert and content creator is using her TikTok account to prepare learner drivers for the theory test.

Annie Winterburn, a driving instructor, has 780K followers on her account @theorytestpractice.

She has amassed a huge 4.8M likes for her clever tips, many of which are explanations of the UK’s most confusing road signs.

In her latest video, Annie explained this combination of a single yellow line on the road and a parking sign.

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She said: “Here there is one yellow line painted on the road. This means there are waiting or parking restrictions.”

“Sometimes you can part on this road and sometimes you can’t,” she explained.

“If there is one line, you need to look for the sign,” she said, in a clever rhyme to remind drivers what a single yellow line indicates.

Then Annie turned her attention to the sign, which is a yellow rectangular sign with a black border. It has a blue circle with a red border and a red cross through it, and it reads: “Mon – Fri 8:30 – 9:30am 2:30 – 3:30pm”.

So what does it mean? Annie explained on: “The sign is saying no waiting or parking between Monday and Friday, between 8:30 and 9:30am, and 2:30 or 3:30pm in the afternoon.”

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Annie recently decoded another road sign, which many drivers find confusing, amassing over 700K views.

She was asked to explain the sign, which is a square white sign with a black border. It has a blue square with a large white “P” and text that reads: “Mon – Sat 8 am – 6 pm 1 hour No return within 1 hour.”

The driving expert explained: “This sign is saying that between Monday and Saturday, you can park between 8 o’clock in the morning and 6 o’clock at night, but only for one hour.”

What about the “no return in one hour”? Annie explained: “That simply means that you’re not allowed to drive out of your parking space, drive around the block, and go straight back into that parking space. Well, not for an hour anyway.”

UK road traffic signs explained

Circle signs

Circle-shaped signs give orders. These are rules that must be followed. Circle-shaped signs with a red ring tell drivers what not to do. These include speed limits (speeds not to travel faster than). Blue circles, on the other hand, give mandatory instruction, such as a turning you must take.

Triangle signs

Triangle signs provide warnings to drivers. They highlight dangers to be aware of such, as being in a high pedestrian traffic area.

Rectangles

Rectangles are designed to inform you. Blue rectangles usually give out information on motorways. Green is for direction signs and white can be used to give directions or extra information alongside warning signs or rule signs.