A Tale of Two Cities

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. . .

There is a Cumberland Road in Bristol and a Cumberland Road in Ealing, in west London. Many motorists on each road are fined for inadvertently contravening traffic orders with poor signage. This is not entirely the fault of the local authorities: central Government bears heavy responsibility for its failure to make suitable traffic signs available and require their use.

Bristol

On Cumberland Road, Bristol, after passing signs such as this

and this

motorists face this scene:

There are two pieces of red on traffic signs in this scene: the bar of the No Through Road sign to the left; and the No Entry sign at the right. Between them the signs are blue, which is also the main colour of the sign to the left. Without thinking about the meaning of the signs, it's obvious that you can't go to the right of the traffic island, but nor can you escape by turning left. Nor is there a mini-roundabout to allow you to turn round. The only option remaining is to go straight on, which is what the road markings indicate you should be doing, ... and get a PCN.

A similar configuration existed in Newcastle, with similar results. After many protests, the suspension of the scheme for 3 years and a report by the Chief Adjudicator of the Traffic Penalty Tribunal, Newcastle changed the configuration to this:

Penalties dropped enormously.

Ealing

Ealing is one of many local authorities to have implemented "School Streets". These are schemes in which streets around a school are restricted to pedestrians, cyclists and permit-holders at the start and end of school. Although admirable in principle, their signage is poor, resulting in many fines for inadvertent contraventions.

Cumberland Road in Ealing is one such location:

While drivers who have previously been fined would recognise the traffic signs, those who have not would be unaware of their implications. At this distance, which is where a driver needs to make the decision to turn right, the "flying motorcyle" sign is recognisable within the large sign. Of the text of the sign, only the word "ZONE" can be made out. 

Some drivers may have seen this sort of sign before, at the entrance to main shopping streets in a town centre. Accompanying such signs are other signs, which tell drivers where they must go. Either the roads will be configured as after the change in Newcastle, or there will be traffic lights with phases which make it clear that access to the shopping street is restricted. There is also usually advance notice of the restrictions which includes the times of operation.

Not so, here. These are the first and only signs for the restrictions. Apart from the signs, this appears to be an ordinary residential street with parking on both sides. It looks like a one-way road and there's a sign warning of contraflow cyclists. There's also the back of a warning triangle just beyond the "ZONE" sign on the right. It is, in fact, a two-way road.

Here is the sign, when you reach it:

But, of course, by then it's too late. 

Missing Signs

In each city, motorists don't set out to be fined. Nor are they not paying attention. They are paying attention to the road, but they are also travelling at 20 - 30mph. This means that they don't have long to take in a sign, work out its meaning and act on it. During most of the day, Ealing's sign can be ignored. It only takes effect during two periods, at times which can only be read after you've passed the "point of no return" for turning right.

In Bristol, the advance signs are complex and not easily assimilated. The top of the large map-type sign is more than 5m above the road. People start reading the sign from the bottom and work up. By the time they reach the top, they're so close to the sign that its top has disappeared off the top of the windscreen (Google Street View's cameras don't suffer from this problem, being mounted on the roof of the vehicle, some 3m above the road).

What is needed in each case is advance signage which is simple and small. Just like ordinary road signs. In fact, ordinary road signs. Here are two suggestions, for Bristol and Ealing respectively:

These signs don't attempt to convey information about what vehicles are permitted at a restriction. If you're driving a car, van or lorry, you're unlikely to be allowed through. What you need to know is that there's a restriction ahead and where you will need to go when you reach it. 

The key concept in these signs is that a detached blue line represents a section of road to which a restriction applies.  If the restriction doesn't apply at all times, a blue plate below the sign specifies when it does.

At least one of these triangular warning signs would be mandatory before you reached the restriction. 

Blue Roundels

When you reach the restriction in Bristol, there's a blue roundel with pictograms of the vehicles which are permitted. These signs are not intuitive. 

When our modern traffic signs were introduced in 1964, blue roundels were used only to give mandatory instructions. Prohibitions were shown by the colour red: either as a border or as the whole of the No Entry sign except for the white bar. 

The more recent use of blue roundels with vehicles conveys a different meaning: exclusive use. Such a sign conveys two messages:

• the vehicles depicted are permitted to use the road beyond the sign;

• other vehicles are prohibited from using the road beyond the sign.

Prohibitions are conveyed by the colour red, but red is absent. For the sign to be intuitive, it should have some prominent red. It is suggested that blue roundels with vehicles should be displayed on red backing boards. The effect can be seen in the comparison below:

Although a quarter of the area is red, the overall breadth and height are increased by only 5%: placing the sign on a red backing-board is a very space-efficient way to convey prohibition.

This is how such signs would appear on Cumberland Road, Bristol:

Now red can be seen on all the signs, conveying the intuitive message of prohibition. All routes out are either barred or prohibited. Except for the one which is considered last: slamming on the brakes and doing a U-turn. 

Signs for School Streets 

The signs used for school streets are based on the "flying motorcycle". A 2010 study found that the "flying motorcycle" sign was poor at conveying the message that cycles are permitted but other vehicles are excluded. As a result, DfT changed the regulations in 2016 to permit No Entry signs to be used instead with the plate "Except cycles" below them. 

Residents of school streets are usually issued with permits exempting them from the restrictions. This is so in Ealing; the permit for Cumberland Road is "SS2". The sign therefore has a panel beneath it which reads "Except permit holders SS2".

Another issue with school streets is what happens outside school terms. The signs used apply throughout the year, but many local authorities only apply the restrictions when the school is in session. The selective enforcement of restrictions for reasons which are not discernible from the signs is arbitrary and possibly unlawful. It would be better if the signs used were specific to school streets and that they were defined as applying only when the school was in session.

These issues are addressed by the proposed sign below. It uses a blue roundel showing a cycle and the specified permit. Around the roundel is a representation of a red backing board, signifying the prohibition on other traffic. No panel is needed for "Except permit holders"  

This is how such signs would look on Cumberland Road, Ealing:

Before they reach the blue roundels, motorists will have passed at least one triangular warning sign. This also shows the times of operation. In passing it, the motorist will have come sufficiently close to be able to read the times. It would be better if there were two triangular signs: the first to alert to the existence of the restriction; the second to allow the times to be read.

Written 4th November 2025; last updated 9th November 2025